Placid Baby D Series
by Mamma D
Summary: Pyro John / OC Well you know what they say... Opposites Attract. Beware of gushy romance stuff... I've taken some stuff from the X2 movie...you'll recognize it. It's not in same order or anything, some scenes just fit is all...
1. Professor X

Professor

I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters. 

          Frightened and exhausted, the young woman ran up to the main doors, falling on them when she reached the steps. Breathing heavily, she looked behind her to see if she could see anyone in the darkness of the driveway and surround trees. Once catching her breath, she knocked rapidly on the door, wiping her still flowing tears away. 

        "Hello, is anybody there? Please somebody, open the door. Please!" She yelled as loud as she could while banging on the door. "Help!" she screamed at it. As she was about to give up hope, the door opened, revealing a dark skinned woman with perfectly white hair. The woman looked at her sympathetically surprised.

        "Please," the girl continued quietly, "help me." The girl stepped in and wrapped her arms tightly around the woman, crying into her chest.

        "It's okay, it's okay. Everything is going to be fine," the woman kindly stroke her tussled hair as other children began to crowd at the door to watch. With caring eyes, the woman looked at the girl. "Come in," she took her hand and led her into the building. As the woman led her down the hall, the girl hung her head as she hid her tears from the children as she passed them. 

        At the end of the hallway, they reached a room wherein a man in a wheelchair sat in front of a large wooden desk, speaking to another man who wore a kind of eyewear she had never seen before. Looking around the room she took notice of her surroundings.

        "Professor, she came to the door just now," the woman spoke to the bald man in the wheelchair. He smiled warmly at her and she hid her face, lowering her eyes.

        "Thank you Storm," he nodded to the woman who had brought her in. Placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, the woman turned and left with the tall brown haired man following behind her.

        "Welcome," he smiled again, as the door closed behind her. "Come in, it's all right," he motioned towards the cushioned chair to his right. Biting her lower lip, she took a seat.

"My name is Professor Charles Xavier, you're at my school for the gifted, or mutant high, as some of the students have so aptly dubbed it." The girl seemed more interested at this. "The woman who brought you in here was Storm and the man who left with her was Scott, also called Cyclops. They are both mutants, as are all others here. You're not alone." The girl looked up at him.

        "How did you…" 

        "I am a telepath. I am able to read minds, among other things." For a moment, she tried to control her thoughts so he couldn't read them but soon realized that this was impossible. "_It's okay," she heard him inside her head and looked up, his warm eyes shone back at her. "Well," he paused slightly, moving a bit closer to her, "now that I've told you about me, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself._

        "Why don't you just read my mind, I'm sure you already know all about me."

        "Because I'd like you to tell me yourself if that's all right." She hesitated, and then began to speak.

        "My name is Mya, Mya D'Angelo. I'm from Canada, a small town called Pickering, in Ontario. It took all the money I had left to get here…" The Professor listened carefully as she spoke, watching her carefully. She began to feel the tears well up behind her eyes. 

        "Mya, if it's too hard for you, I can read your mind. You don't have to say it. Or if you would rather we do this at another time…"

        "No, I'll tell you." She continued her story of how a band of anti-mutant protestors had found out about her and her family and burned her home down with her family still inside, then sought out the rest of her extended family else where and continued to do the same.

        "All I have left is an uncle in Tennessee, and he doesn't think to highly of mutants either," Mya tried to crack a smile. The Professor chuckled to himself cheerfully. Just then, a teenaged girl walked in with long gloves and two white locks of hair at the front of her head. When she saw the Professor, she smiled.

        "Mya, this is Rogue, if you plan on staying here, you're more than welcome to stay with her and the others in her room.

        "Hi Mya," she reached out a gloved hand and shook Mya's, "Welcome to Mutant High." Mya laughed remembering what the Professor had told her.

        "Thank you Rouge, please help her if she needs."

        "Sure," she smiled as she led Mya out the door, closing it behind her. 


	2. Rogue

ROGUE

I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters. 

The two girls walked in silence, Mya occasionally lifting her head to look at the students who watched her walk by.

       "Here we are," Rogue opened the door to their dormitory. Walking in, Mya looked around at the teddy bears, posters and clothing that lined the room. "Here," she walked up to and sat down on a bed, "is where I sleep. This one is yours," she motioned towards the bed to her right. "They're pretty comfy once you get used to them, you kind of have to make them your own, you know," she turned and laid down on the bed, bouncing twice, "customize it." They both smiled. Rouge knew she was making progress.

       "Thank you," Mya smiled again walking over to the bed next to Rogue and imitating her by bouncing. They laughed again, as Rogue got up and walked over to a dresser in the corner of the room. She stopped for a second and fixed her hair in the large mirror that hung over it.

       "So what's your name?" Rogue turned and sat down on the dresser chair. 

       "Mya, My D'Angelo," she sat up on the edge of the bed.

       "My name is Marie," she nodded cheerfully. Mya looked back confused.

       "I'm sorry; I thought your name was Rogue?" Mya shook her head.

       "My real name is Marie, my other name is Rogue. The Professor calls them codenames or are natural names," Rogue smiled and shook her head. "Don't you have one?" 

       "Uh, no, I guess not," Mya blushed a bit.

       "Hmm, maybe you'll find one here," she thought for a second. "Oh hey, I was just about to have dinner, if you're hungry; you're more than welcome to join me," Rogue stood up, fixing her gloves.

       "I'm starving!" Mya put her hand to her stomach, as she joined Rouge at the door. Rogue opened it allowing Mya to go first.  "Thanks." As she walked behind her, Mya was beginning to believe that she was going to be okay here, here with her own kind.


	3. Reunion

REUNION

I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters. 

        This time when they walked down the halls, they were empty and quiet. There was no one sneaking around to see the school's newest mutant. When they reached the kitchen, there was already someone there.

        "Bobby!" Rouge, walked around the table and planted a quick kiss. He was just placing two large white pizza boxes down on the table. "Bobby, this is Mya, she just arrived today," she pointed to Mya who smiled shyly. He held out his hand to shake hers.

        "Also known as Iceman," he gave her a taste of his power. Mya pulled her hand away frantically, with it still in a grasped position. Rogue and Bobby both looked shocked at the pain in her face. "Sorry, are you okay?" Bobby apologized immediately. Mya shook her hand a few times, blowing on it before she could move her fingers again.

        "Um," she paused with a less painful look now, "yeah."

        "I'm so sorry, I didn't know that would hurt you like that," Bobby apologized again.

        "No, it's okay really. It's just that you're ice and," she hesitated, "and I'm water." Rogue and Bobby looked at each other before looking confused at Mya.

        "Huh? I don't understand." Rogue shook her head as she took one pizza box off the other and opened it.

        "Well, it's my power," Mya looked at the two, trying to get through their confused faces. "It's hard to explain. I'll just have to show you." The two watched intently as she held her left palm up and pointed with her right hand to the centre of it. As they watched, her hand turned to water, and a stream of water poured from it like a tap right from her index finger absorbing into her left palm.

        "Awesome," Bobby smiled at her. "I haven't seen anything like that before, not yet anyway."

        "Thanks," Mya pointed her finger like a gun at him and spritzed him right in the forehead.

        "Agh!" he frantically wiped his face off while Rogue laughed at his side.

        "Don't worry; it's just water from the air. Let's just say that was for freezing my hand."


	4. What's In A Name

WHAT'S IN A NAME

I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters. 

        "So what do they call you, what's your name?" Bobby separated a slice from the rest before taking a huge bite of it.

        "She doesn't have one!" Rogue remembered, turning excitedly to her boyfriend.

        "You don't have one?" Bobby looked surprised. Mya shook her head.

        "Is that a bad thing?" She looked embarrassed again.

        "No, no, of course not," he finished chewing. "It's just, well I don't know anyone who doesn't, until now I guess." He looked over at Rogue, "We'll just have to find you one." Mya smiled to herself, she was making now friends. She was, for the first time in a long time, feeling at ease.

        "Yeah. Hmm… water, water, water…" Rogue thought out loud to herself.

        "What about Wave?" Bobby looked up grinning.

        "Bobby," Rogue shook he head.

        "Well how about Tidal?" Rogue suggested.

        "No offence, but it kind of reminds me of the soap." Bobby laughed.

        "Oh," Rogue thought for a moment, "yeah, I guess it does." She laughed. "You're right. Well what are we going to call you?" You have this new, water power surging through you," Rogue shook her head in frustration.

        "Well, what about Surge?" Mya looked at the two as the contemplated.

        "I like it," Rogue nodded proudly. They bother looked at her. "Well I thought of it didn't I?" Bobby smiled at her, leaning over to kisser her in the head.

        "Thought of what?" Someone asked. It came from the hallway outside the kitchen. 

        "Mya's new name, Surge." Mya struggled to break the string of cheese from her mouth so she could turn around.

        "Mya?" He stepped into the kitchen, flicking a metal lighter open and closed. "Who's Mya?" he walked up behind her. Mya put the pizza down and wiped her mouth.

        "Hi," she turned to look up at him standing over him. When she saw him, she froze. "John?" she breathed heavily. Bobby and Rogue looked on in silence.

        "Mya." He flicked his lighter shut, looking at her with bewilderment, wonder and shock in his eyes. "What are you doing here?"


	5. Liar Liar

LIAR LIAR

I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters. 

Mya stood up still surprised. "Well hi to you to," she stuck her hands in her back pockets and rolled her eyes.

        "No, I mean, hi but... Well I'm just surprised to see you all the way out here," John tried his best to save himself. "How are you?"

        "At this moment in time… not that great, thanks," she looked down at the ground. "But you look all right." 

        "Thanks, I'm doing okay I guess," John smiled shyly. Rogue couldn't help but crack a smile at John's new found sensitivity. There was an awkward pause.

        "So," John continued, "what are you doing here?"

"Um, I'm staying here for a while," she shook her head, with a zillion and one thoughts racing through it at light speed. "Why are you here?" Bobby and Rogue watched in silence from across the table.

        "I go to school here," John replied almost smugly.

        "You go to school here?" Mya's eyes widened. "So, you're a mutant?" There was an underlying tone of anger in her voice. John looked as if he had been caught.

        "Yeah, but Mya," John clenched his fists in frustration. Rogue looked at Bobby worried if they should stay or leave.

        "Yeah, but what John," Mya shook her head angrily at him. "What kind of excuse are you going to make up this time?" She pursed her lips.

        "Mya I…"

        "You know, I should have known, you're the same as you were before. Only now I thought that maybe, just maybe time would have changed you, even a bit, but no."

        "You don't understand," John tried to reason with her. Bobby and Rogue were beginning to feel more and more uncomfortable.

        "Just save it," Mya began to tear up. "I don't want to hear anymore from you, I've heard enough to last me a lifetime."

        "Mya, just listen," John called after her, but she was already headed out the door. "God," he threw his arms up in frustration. Rogue squeezed Bobby's hand then left to go after Mya. "Real slick huh?" John looked at Bobby, disappointed with himself. Bobby just looked back at him wondering what in the world had just happened.


	6. Protector

PROTECTOR

I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters. 

"Can I ask what that was?" Bobby pointed from him to the door then back to him as confused and puzzled as ever. "How do you know her?

          "Mya?" John took a seat at the table and poked at a piece of pizza miserably.

          "No Rogue," Bobby shot sarcastically. "Yes Mya."

          "I was…" he paused, glancing up at Bobby momentarily. "I was living up in Canada for a while, only like a year or so, in Ontario. I met her there."

          "So why is she so mad at you man?"

          "Well I had known her from the first day that I arrived in Ontario, we kinda just…" John looked up at Bobby who had suddenly become more interested. "Well she was sort of my…"

          "Girlfriend, Mya was your girlfriend?" Bobby's eyes widened.

          "Hey, why's that so hard to believe?" John felt offended.

          "No, it's not; it's just that, well, she's hot."

          "I know but what about Rogue?" John reminded him.

          "Not in the same way, no comparison," Bobby shook his head nervously. John raised an eyebrow. "But you still haven't answered my question, why'd she get ticked when you told her you were a mutant? If you were dating, she should have known right?" Bobby cocked his head. John hardly looked up and flicked his lighter open and shut. "Right?" Bobby asked again.

          "There was this intense anti-mutant group that was hunting down all mutants. They found out about me, they were after me…" he paused nodding slightly. "I didn't want to tell her, she was safer not knowing," he spat out. "She didn't know about them until after."

          "After what?" Bobby couldn't believe what John was telling him.

          "After I broke up with her."

          "But if she found out about the anti-mutant group, why is she still mad? It just doesn't make sense, not even for a girl." Bobby shook his head.

          "I told her my reason for breaking up with her was because she was a mutant." John flicked his lighter again.

          "What?!" Bobby almost yelled. John quickly shushed him.

          "I just thought that if I hurt her enough, that she would want to stay away from me and not come and look for me or do something stupid like that," John whispered angrily. "I was only trying to help her, and in the end she didn't come after me," John lowered his head shamefully, "they came after her."

          "How do you know that?" Bobby wondered.

          "Well that's why she's here isn't it? She talked about this place when we were together, that one day she'd come here, just to see what it was like to be with other people like her," John paused, "like us." Bobby sat back shocked. He had no idea that John even had a sensitive side to him, much less had a girlfriend. He had always thought that John was the type of guy that didn't want to be "tied down."

          "Wow," Bobby let out. He was sat shocked and amazed, taking a bite of the lukewarm pizza.

          "Hey, don't tell anyone about this okay, well I know that you're going to tell Rogue, but no one else." John pointed at him.

          "All right, okay, I won't." Bobby took another bite of the pizza. "I promise."


	7. Nothing But Hell

NOTHING BUT HELL

I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters. 

When Rogue came around the corner, she found Mya sobbing quietly on the floor in front of the bedroom door. As soon as she saw Rogue, she stood up, wiping her tears away with her shirt.

          "Are you okay?" Rouge asked putting a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

          "Yeah," she nodded her head, still wiping the tears away.

          "Is there anything I can do, do you want to talk about or something?" Mya shook her head looking s if she was going to start crying again. "Here," Rogue opened the door quietly as not to disturb the other two that were sleeping. Softly she walked over to one of the dressers and took out a white night gown and a new pack of underwear and socks. "The shower is just around the corner on the right. There should be fresh washcloths and soap and shampoo for you to use in there. It'll help you feel better." Rogue smiled tenderly as she handed Mya the clothing. "Just make sure to keep quiet, some of the students sleep very lightly, some don't even sleep at all." Mya grinned as she headed for the door.

          "Thanks," she smiled as she left the room. She walked in silence down the hall and around the corner until she met the door that read "ladies shower/bathroom." Once inside she locked the door, not feeling like having any company while she was in there. Resting the clothes on the shelf outside the shower stall, Mya turned on the water letting it run hot.  She took off her clothes and stepped in, letting the hot water flow through her hair and over her face and skin. She tried to put all the horrible memories out of her head but the more she tried, the more they fought back. She cried, letting all of the memories and bad feelings wash down the drain with the soap, dirt and tears.

          When she was finished, she carefully put on the silky nightgown that Rouge had given her along with the underwear and socks. Gathering her clothes, she unlocked the door and left the bathroom. As she was about to turn the corner, to go back to the room, she bumped into John.

          "Excuse me," she said coldly.

          "Mya just wait a second, just listen, please." John pleaded. Mya paused before turning around to face him.

          "No you listen; I've been through nothing but hell for the past few weeks. I've seen my family die and my friends betray me. I seen people, children being killed for no other reason than a genetic fault, that wasn't even their own. I've been chased, hunted and stalked, and now you want to lie to me again?" Mya fought against the tears that wanted to surface yet again. 

          "I'm not going to lie to you! I just want to tell you the truth, the honest truth," John begged.

          "Shhh... there are other people in the world other than you, you know."

          "I know, I know I deserve anything that you dish out at me but lemmie explain for just one second okay." Mya took a deep breath and thought about it. 

          "Fine," she looked up at him. John took a deep breath before beginning his explanation.

          "Mya I left you for your own good."

          "Oh John, you know I give you a chance and you just…"

          "They were after me."

          "What?" Mya's eyes shot up.

          "The protestors, they were after me at first, before they knew about you. I left so they wouldn't find you." John took her hand in his. She lowered her head thinking back.

          "Why didn't you tell me John," Mya was becoming less and less angry with every word. "Why couldn't you at least let me know why you were leaving?"

          "Incase they found you, I thought if you didn't know anything, and they didn't know what you were, then you would be okay." He slipped his fingers in between hers.

          "But I wasn't," she jerked her hands away from his. "I'm not," she whispered heatedly. "They did find me, and they did find out what I was," Mya was becoming emotional and it hurt him. "And they burned down my house, and killed my family," she paused looking up into his eyes. "And now I have nothing." John lowered his head shamefully. "So if I'm supposed to just forget about everything that happened, I can't do that."

          "Mya I'm not asking you to forget, I'm not even asking you to forgive me. All I'm asking is that you let me help you, in anyway that I can," he looked back up at her, taking her hands in his again.

"I still care about you," he brushed a strand of her wet hair behind her ear, "so much." She looked at him for a while then bowed her head.

          "Good night John," she squeezed his hands and walked past him and into the room leaving him standing alone in the dark hallway.


	8. Babysitter

BABYSITTER

I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters. 

          The next day, when Mya awoke, the room was empty. At the foot of her bed, Rogue had left her some clothing for her to wear and a toothbrush and toothpaste. After putting on the clothes, and going to the bathroom to freshen up, she fixed her hair as much as she could she went to look around the school she had so wanted to see. Walking down the halls she passed the kitchen where she had been the night before. As she kept walking, she came across a large classroom. When she peered in the window, she saw the white-haired lady, Storm that had brought her into the school when she first got there. Looking around the classroom she saw Rouge in the back, whispering to another girl in a bright yellow jacket and glasses.

          "Hey kid?" a husky voice came from behind her. Mya spun around startled at a man in a dark leather jacket and worn jeans, who glared at her from under a hairy face. "What are you doing?" He asked her again.

          "I'm sorry, I was just looking," Mya put her hands behind her back nervously. He didn't look like he would be a teacher here.

          "Shouldn't you be in there?" He nodded towards the room.

          "Uh," Mya hesitated, "I'm not a student here, I," she paused again trying to think of something. "The Professor is letting me stay here for a while."

          "_Mya, Logan,_" a voice interrupted both of their thoughts. Mya looked around but there was no one else in the hallway. She knew that the man could hear it too. "_Could you please join me in my office_?" The voice belonged to the Professor. She then remembered what he had told her the night before.

          "You Mya?" The man lowered his head.

          "Logan?" she asked quietly.

          "I guess he wants us then." Mya nodded again and walked silently beside the large man down the hallway and finally to the Professor's office. Logan held the door open for Mya as she stepped inside greeted by the Professor.

          "Good morning Mya, I trust you slept well?" he cam out from behind his desk.

          "Um, yes sir, thank you." Mya sat down in one of the cushioned chairs, with Logan standing dauntingly at her side with his arms crossed. The Professor smiled back at her.

          "Well Mya, it has come to my attention that you will need a few things while you are staying here. We can't have you borrowing all of Rogue's things, now can we." Mya smiled shyly at the fact that he knew.

          "Logan, since you seem to bond so well with the students here, especially the new students, I was hoping you wouldn't mind taking a few of them shopping in the city," the Professor raised an eyebrow. Immediately Logan uncrossed his arms looking very upset at this.

          "Why am I always the one who gets chosen to baby sit, why not Storm or Jean or Cyclops for that matter?"

          "Because _you are the one the children seem to like the most." Professor reminded him. Logan seemed to relax his stance. The Professor went back behind his desk and took something out of one of the drawers_

          "Uh, Professor?" Mya interrupted the slighted silence.

          "Hmm?"

          "I spent all of my money coming here, I don't have anything left." Logan looked down at her as she lowered her head embarrassed.

          "That won't be a problem. I wouldn't expect you to have to pay for anything while you are here, you are a guest here." The Professor opened an envelope and took out a card.

          "Here Logan, I'll will entrust you with this," he handed him a credit card. Logan looked at it shaking his head.

          "Hey, I still haven't agreed to this," he looked back up at the Professor, and then down at Mya who looked lat what he said had hurt her feelings.

          "There will be a car waiting for you outside, one that you can keep so Cyclops will stop complaining about you borrowing his motorcycle.  Plus it will make it much easier for you to get from destination to destination whilst on your search." Logan looked at the card in his hands again, then raised an eyebrow at Mya and cracked a smile. He seemed much more interested now. "Mya, you are more than welcome to invite your new friends with you. Think of it as a welcoming party." Mya's face lit up. This was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her. She got up out of her seat and went over to the Professor.

          "Thank you," she hugged him, almost taking him by surprise.

          "You're more than welcome, Mya. I have a feeling this will be good for you," the Professor came out from behind the desk again. "You can leave after classes are out, I'll have Rogue, Bobby and John meet you at the front doors," he smiled at the two.

          "I hope I don't regret this," Logan commented quietly under his breath.

          "I'm sure you won't," the Professor smiled.

          "Thanks again," Mya beamed as Logan opened the door. As Mya was leaving, she heard his voice in her head again.

          "_Be careful_," he warned. She looked back at him and nodded as Logan ushered her out the door.


	9. Customer

CUSTOMER

I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters. 

It was an animated atmosphere in the car as Logan drove them into the city. Rogue, Bobby and John had never been on a private trip into the city since they had been staying at Xavier's School, it was always in large groups that they had to go out. Mya sat up in front, while Rogue pointed to all of the expensive storefronts beside Bobby and John in the back. As soon as Logan had found a parking space, Rogue hopped excitedly out of the backseat with Bobby following close behind her. 

          "This is great," Rogue looked up at the expanse of glass that showcased all the latest in teen trends for men and women. "Mya come on!" she called as she stepped out of the car along with Logan and John. As Rogue hurried into the store, Mya closed the car door and headed for the storefront, making her way across the busy sidewalk. 

          "Mya," John called after her as she was about to enter the store. She turned as he approached her but said nothing. "Are we cool?" he lowered his voice to her. 

She looked at him for a moment and then nodded. "I invited you didn't I?" He smiled as she walked straight-faced into the store. Quietly she walked up to Logan who was just sitting down in one of the comfortable and soft-cushioned customer waiting chairs.

"Logan?"

"Gees, you kids are quick, you found something already?" he began to search of the card in his jacket.

"No, I just wanted to say thanks, I mean for taking us and all. I know you really didn't want to," Mya smiled empathetically. Logan relaxed back in the chair and smiled.

"It's my pleasure kid." Mya returned the smile and headed off to find Rogue. The two girls zigzagged around the clothing racks, waving between the other customers in the store, while the guys slowly picked through some of the items they might like. Every now and then, John would subtly look up to check what Mya was doing. She seemed happy, and to always have a smile on her face which eased his thoughts. The only problem being that he wasn't talking to him. This he seemed determined in his own mind to overcome, without letting anyone else know that is.

Mya ducked into a change room with an armful of clothing. On the way out John was waiting on the other side of the door in front of the mirror.  When he saw her, his eyes widened.

"Uh, wow, um you look great," the words stumbled out. She stood surprised and flattered wearing a formfitting halter top and a long denim skirt. Her hair had been pinned up with what John thought looked like two black chopsticks.

"Thanks," she smiled inwardly.  They stood silently for a few moments, looking at everything but each other. Suddenly, Mya looked around to see if anyone was looking and pulled him into the tiny change room. 

"Whoa, what's going on?" John was taken aback. Mya just looked him over, still holding onto his shirt. He could see she was thinking about something, very carefully which made him very uneasy. Out of the blue, she pulled him into her, closed her eyes and kissed him square on the lips. When she pulled away, John was left too confused to be happy. They stood quietly, with their own thoughts racing through their heads. Not wanting to waste another moment, John leaned in and kissed her again, this time more passionately than before. As they separated, John smiled contentedly back at Mya.

"Not that's I'm complaining or anything, but what was that for?" he took a deep breath to relax his nerves.

"I just wanted to make sure that I still felt the same way about you as I did," her eyes lowered down to her hands which were intertwined with his.

"Huh?"

"I, I don't know, I just felt like I needed to do that. I need to get my feelings straight. I know it's not fair to you." He thought it looked like she was fighting something, mentally, like she had something to say but she couldn't do it.

"Well," he lowered his head to look up into her eyes, "All you have to do is let me know when you're ready. Things have changed, and I'm not as great at this whole relationship thing as I used to be, but," he thought for a moment, then took her cheek in his hand, "I'm pretty sure you can help me out." Stepping a little closer, he kissed her lightly on the lips again.

"Ow," she bit her bottom lip. 

"What?" John shook his head.

"My foot." John looked down to his boot on top of Mya's bare foot. Immediately he stepped back, pressing his back up against the room wall.

"Sorry."

"Could you do me a favor?"

"I promise I won't step on your foot again," he shook his head smiling.

"Could you give these to Logan and ask him to pay for them, I think I'm done. If that's okay with you, I mean, I'll be right out," she handed him the clothes that were hanging on the door. He looked at the clothes, and then leaned in and kissed her again.

"I kinda like doing that," he laughed nervously. He knew he was going against what he had forced himself to believe. Regardless, he took the clothes and dashed quickly out of the change room so that no one would see him.


	10. Unfortune

UNFORTUNE

I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.

After stopping off at a few more locations, their final destination was a drugstore on the way back.

"I know exactly what I want, I'll be okay by myself," Mya opened the door as the pulled up to the storefront. Logan nodded tiredly, not having enough energy to care.

"I'll come in with you," Rogue volunteered.

"I'll only be two minutes, in and out. It'll be fine."

"Mya, go ahead, and be quick about it, it's getting late and we need to be getting back." Logan handed Mya the card and leaned back on the head rest. Rogue settled back down in her seat when Mya nodded and jumped quickly out of the car closing the door behind her. John watched out the window as she crossed the sidewalk and went in.

 As she entered the store, she paused, looking for the isle with the hair care products. When she found it, she made her way around the other people in the isle and found the hair brushes, combs and curlers. Mya stood trying to make a decision about which ones she should buy. While looking the items over, she distinctly had the feeling that someone was watching her. Subtly she looked over to her left, but there was no one. Looking over to her right, she noticed a man in a black baseball cap, black shirt and blue jeans standing and staring at her. Quickly Mya grabbed a brush, a comb, one of the curlers and some hair elastics and quickly walked in the opposite direction, making her way over to the register. 

Unfortunately for her, when she got there, there was a line up. Holding the items in her hands, she kept her head down. While two other customers were finishing up their sales, Mya took a chance and slowly raised her head to look behind her. Now there were two of them, in different positions. One was watching her from behind a magazine over at the cards and magazine isle and the other, the one from before, was looking at a display of disposable cameras and film. When she was next in line, Mya quickly put her things down on the counter. The lady casually scanned each of the items and took the card from her. When the lady asked her to sign the receipt, she froze. She wasn't sure of what to do; she wasn't sure of what Logan had done. 

"Mya?" She looked up to see Bobby coming in the store. "Is everything okay, what's taking so long?" He walked up to her and looked her over. "Are you okay?" Mya looked behind her to see that both of the strangers had vanished. With an inward sigh, she turned back to Bobby.

"Yeah, sorry," she leaned into him. "I just wasn't sure about what to do with this," she whispered holding the receipt up to him.

"Just sign it I guess, I'm sure the Professor will sort it all out later," he nodded. Not being able to think of anything else, she signed her name, grabbed the bag and headed for the door with Bobby close by. As the doors opened, she looked once more behind her, but they were gone. Smiling inwardly, she hopped into the front seat of the car. 

"You get everything you need?" Logan asked, starting the car.

"Everything," she smiled again as they drove back to the school.


	11. Loyalty

LOYALTY

I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.

Mya was silent in thought as she walked down the busy hall with John to her room. She kept thinking about the people that were following her. Were they the same people who had made her find the school in the first place? Thoughts of what they might do if they found out that she was at the school plagued her. When she had first found out that they were following her, she ran from her hometown and never looked back. But could they have followed her all this way?

          John looked at her sympathetically, wondering about what was on her mind. He opened his mouth about to say something, but recoiled unsure of what would be appropriate. As they walked Mya noticed two girls, watching them closely as they approached.

          "That's her, that's the one," one of them whispered to the other as they drew nearer. Mya could see disgust and objection on their faces as they stood with their arms crossed. She stopped and looked up confused with John right beside her.

          "Excuse me?" Mya looked the two girls over.

          "Faith was just telling me how you ran away from your family and let them die," her tone was cold and demeaning. "Is that true?" The girl shifted her weight to one leg. As the words sank in, Mya felt her heart drop in her chest and her face start to get hot.

          "How dare you," Mya started.

          "Come on Mya, Kaylin's always getting her facts mixed up," John all but growled at her, pulling Mya's arm in the other direction, but she wrenched it away.

          "Now I don't know how you know anything at all about me, 'cause I sure as hell don't know who you are, but you really do have your facts mixed up missy," Mya waved her finger in Kaylin's face.

          "Mya let's go," John begged for it not to get out of hand.

          "I would have," Mya could feel the tears welling in her eyes with the painful memories that flashed back in her head. "I would have… but my best friend, someone who I'd known for more than half my life, chose money over loyalty and… kept me away while they," it took all the strength she had to contain herself. "While they murdered my family." John could see the embarrassment and remorse on the two girls faces as they uncrossed they arms and lowered their eyes. All movement had stopped in the hallway; everyone was watching and listening to what was going on.

          "So go spread that rumor," Mya sobbed lightly, "I'm sure everyone wants to know," she paused, looking at the two, but lost in her own thoughts before turning and rushing for the door leaving John standing with the bags in the middle of the hall.

          "What the hell did you do that for?" John yelled at them.

          "Look, we were only repeating what we heard, nothing else," Faith defended herself, trying not to look as embarrassed as she was.

          "Oh yeah? Who told you that?"

          "I dunno, just around, from people," Kaylin felt the warning in his voice. John looked around at all of the people standing and staring in the hall, glaring at each of them thinking that it could have been anyone of them who had said it.

          "Well maybe next time _people tell you something and you don't know if it's true or not, maybe you'll keep your damn mouth shut! If you haven't learned that much already." Kaylin and Faith stood shocked and silent as John headed off to find Mya. Moments after John was around the corner and out of sight, the motion in the hallway resumed. The only two left standing in the same spot were Faith and Kaylin. _

          "So," Kaylin smirked, "you think he's seeing her?"

********* **AN:** **FAITH B **AND** KAYLIN!!! If you have any objections to me using your names as characters in my story… please let me know and I will find others… But I really like yours… Thanks for being such loyal readers!**

Please check out

**ETERNAL LOVE - *Baby D* Series**

Over at

**fictionpress.com/~babyd******

And let me know what you think…


	12. X Men

X-MEN

I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.

When John opened the door to the back courtyard, a powerful yell and the sound of rushing water cut into the silence of the evening. Immediately he dropped the bags and rushed over to where the commotion was coming from. He got there just in time to see Mya tearing down everything that was in the way of the massive jets of water that surged from her hands. Before John could find and flick his lighter, one of the men hit her from behind, slapping something on the back of her neck and causing her to fall screaming to the ground.

          "Hey!" John yelled, catching the attention of her attackers. "Try this one on for size." With that, he flicked his lighter, producing one large ball of flames in his hand and then splitting it into two with the other. Mya lay curled on the ground, not knowing what he was about to do. With an outstretched arm, Pyro's hands had become ultimate flame throwers, sending streams of fire over Mya and setting two of the men on fire, causing them to collapse and roll around on the ground screaming and removing their clothes. 

          In seconds, Wolverine, Cyclops and Jean were on the scene, having been told by the Professor that something was wrong. While the other's fought, John hurried over to Mya, helping her, scared and shaking off the ground. When she was on her feet, Mya held onto John as tight as she could, shivering furiously in his arms.

          "It's okay," he reassured her, as she burrowed her face into the nape of his neck.  He could feel the hot, wet tears soaking into his skin, and all he could think about was frying those who had done this to her. All of a sudden, Mya let go and pushed him away, firing a bolt of water at an oncoming attacker. As soon as the water hit him, the device on the back of her neck beeped loudly, flashing red and green and sending Mya screaming horrifically to the ground. Mya's screams caused the others who were fighting to quickly look over to see what had happened. John glanced over at the attacker who had been knocked unconscious by Mya's surge, then crawled over to see what had happened to her.

          She screamed again, clenching the back of her head and curled up in a ball on the grass.

          "Get it off John, please! Get it off!" She screamed with her eyes squeezed shut. Unsure of what to do he moved her hair away from the scorpion looking metal device on the back of her neck. As he watched he saw the lights on the back of the device flash and the six legs of the device drilling into her skin and towards her brain and spine. Just as he reached for it, a shot of electricity was sent through his hand and into Mya, causing her whole body to seize on the ground. Not knowing what else he could do, looked up at the other three helplessly.

          "Somebody help her!" He called out to them.

          "What happened?" Cyclops looked Mya over, seeing the ultimate pain she was in.

          "There's a thing on her neck, I can't get it off," John pointed to it as Cyclops knelt down to take a look. 

          "Mya," Scott tried to get a look at her face. "Mya can you hold still, I'm gonna try and get this thing off okay?" Mya didn't answer, but shook in her spot across John's lap, still with her eyes closed. John held her as still as she could as Cyclops stood back preparing his visor for the shot he was about to take.

          "Scott, no!" Jean held his arm back. They both turned to her. "We don't know what that thing is, or what would happen if we tried to remove it." John, still cradling Mya across his lap, took a deep breath, relieved that she had stopped them. "Logan, don't!" Jean called over to him as he was just about to finish his last victim. Jean stepped closer to them. "If you're smart, you'll tell us how to get that thing off of her," using her powers, she picked him up just inches from the ground as Wolverine stood aside and watched smirking. The man said nothing, but clenched his lips and stuck up his nose.

          "Listen pal," Wolverine bared his metallic claws, "I'm not as nice as the lady and I'm not gonna ask ya nicely." The man just looked at the two and chuckled, shaking his head. 

          "As long as that unholy freak of nature can work water like that, that thing is there for life," he smiled again, "however short that may be." Before the last word could leave his mouth, Wolverine's claws were poking through the other side of his body. As he retracted his claws, the man fell dead to the ground.

          "Mya!" John yelled as the device clicked noisily and she fell unconscious. The others gathered to see Mya's limp body strewn across John. The scorpion on the back of her neck and stopped flashing erratically and now only the red light flashed in a constant rhythm.

          "She's not breathing," Scott informed Jean and Logan as they approached.

          "Let's get her inside quickly!" Jean instructed. 

          "Watch out kid," Logan moved John aside and picked up Mya's flaccid body and carrying her back into the building. John ran beside him, only taking his eyes off of her to open the door for Logan. When they were inside, the halls were blessedly empty, except for Bobby and Rouge who were just making their way to the den. When they saw the group they followed along.

          "John, what happened?" Rogue asked as they ran down the hallway, but he didn't answer and continued into the lab leaving them behind. Outside the doors, Bobby and Rogue looked at each other then back at the door that separated them and the answer to their questions.

Please check out

**ETERNAL LOVE - *Baby D* Series**

Over at

**fictionpress.com/~babyd******

An older one of mine… Let me know if I should post the rest!

**Thanks!**


	13. Patience

PATIENCE

I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.

Inside the lab, Logan placed Mya on the table being careful not to disrupt the machine on her neck. John watched cautiously as he rested her down, her head falling to one side unconsciously. He waited impatiently as Jean poked, prodded and scanned Mya's body.

"What's going on?" John tried to make his way closer to her as the others raced around frantically gathering everything that Jean asked for. "What's happening?" He asked again, only being pushed away by Scott. "Will somebody tell me what the hell is going on?" John stomped loudly.

"Listen kid," Scott stopped him. "We're doing all that we can for her but it's kinda hectic right now and we haven't got time to explain every little thing that we're doing okay?"

"Well she's my friggin' girlfriend and I'd like to know what you're doing to her!" John yelled again. Scott shot him a look and he took a deep breath and calmed himself down. Just then, the Professor entered the lab. "I want to help her." John finished the Professor came up beside him, placing a sympathetic hand on his arm.

"John," the Professor interrupted. John looked down at him. "If you want to help her, trust them to do their job," the professor nodded and the two of them stared at each other in silence for a few moments before the Professor left him to join Scott and find out about the situation from Jean.

John stood for a moment, watching everyone hover around Mya as if she were a science experiment. A few angry and apprehensive thoughts flew through his head before he reluctantly turned around and left the room, leaving Mya in their hands.

Just outside the doors, Bobby and Rogue were sitting on the ground in each other's arms. When john saw them, he turned his head angrily away, irritated that it could not be him and Mya.

"John, are you okay?" Rogue got up from Bobby's lap, helping him up after her. She looked at John with worry and empathy in her eyes. John's anger was replaced by the emotions that reflected in Rogue's eyes. All the previous events repeated in his mind all the way up to just seconds ago. He fought his hardest against the emotions that were surfacing. Looking into his eyes, Rogue could see what was happening inside him and turned to Bobby.

"Just give us a second okay?" She whispered to Bobby before kissing him lightly. Bobby looked at John then nodded back at Rogue, kissed her again, and turned and left.

As soon as Bobby was out of sight, John fell to the floor, resting his back on the wall behind him. Still he fought the unhappiness and regret of not making his feelings known earlier. Rogue slowly and carefully sat down beside him. As soon as she put her hand on his back, his head fell into his knees and a fiery tear escaped his eye, unnoticed by Rogue. He inhaled heavily, trying to force the rest to stay inside. In his mind he felt weak, helpless, and not able to do anything.

"It's going to be okay," Rouge rubbed his back, kneeling close at his side. "You'll see," she reassured him. He lifted his head turning to face Rouge. His cheeks were hot and wet and his eyes were red. He recognized a kindness and sincerity in Rogue's face at that moment that he had seen before. He had seen the same look in Mya's face when they had first met, and every day that they had spent together, before he had left. Without thinking, he leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. Rogue closed her eyes, caught in the moment of emotion. When John leaned back, she opened her eyes slowly, looking at him. They stared at each other in silence, they're faces only centimeters apart and hearts racing, unmoving until the doors of the lab opened and the Professor came out. Surprised, they both turned to look up at him in his chair, both of them knowing that he knew what had just happened. 

"You can see her now," The Professor nodded and turned back into the lab. Rouge and John got up off the floor, brushing off their pants of any dirt that had been picked up.

"I'm sorry," John apologized quietly, barely looking up at Rogue.

"Go to her," she smiled and put a kind hand on his back again. John nodded, smiled and turned into the lab. When he entered the room, the only the Professor and Jean were remaining. Slowly and quietly he made his way over to where Mya was, lying helpless and unconscious on the table. The sheet was tucked neatly under her arms and two monitor pads were stuck to her forehead, connecting to a machine he didn't know of. Taking her hand in his, he looked her over, thinking of all of the ifs that could possibly be.

"John," Jean stepped up to him, slowly. 

"What happened?" John continued to stare at Mya as he spoke.

"The men that attacked her were the same men that had followed her from Canada. The device that's on her neck is something neither I nor the Professor has seen before. I'm sorry but we don't know what it is or what it can and might do to her." John looked up at Jean with an aching in his eyes that she could see clearly. 

"Is she going to wake up?"

"I'm afraid I don't know that," Jean couldn't look into the sadness in his eyes anymore and turned to leave the room.

"I tried to read her mind to see if I could find out anything about these men that we didn't know before, but the device seems to be blocking me out somehow," the Professor stepped in. John took her hand in both of his and squeezed it lightly. 

"Can I stay with her?"

"Of course," the Professor, nodded. "But if anything happens, you make sure to let someone know. We don't know what that thing on her is or what it will do to her so timing is everything." John looked back down at Mya on the table. "I am sorry John." The Professor paused then turned and left the room leaving only John and Mya in its vast space. Finding a chair, he pulled it up next to the table and sat with her.

"Mya?" he whispered to her hoping that she would be able to hear him. "I'm sorry Mya," he leaned over and whispered to her. "I shouldn't have left you back then. When I left Australia I swore that I would never become attached to anything again in my life, that I would live my life for me and no one else. But when I met you, you changed all that. And it was a good thing. I fought it though. I fought as hard as I could not to get attached to you, I did, but you brought out something in me that I hadn't let anyone see in a long time, and it made me feel amazing. It made me fall in love with you. And I fell hard. For you smile, for you eyes, and for just all of you. After years, I didn't feel alone anymore. I didn't want to leave, but at that time I thought it was the best thing to do, for you. And I am sorry for everything that you've been through and everything that's happened to you because of me." John paused for a moment wiping the few tears from his face. "I am sorry Mya, I am." With that he sat back in his chair and watched her sleep until he too fell asleep to the sound of her breathing.


	14. Uncertainty

UNCERTAINTY

I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.

John was awoken by Mya's tossing and mumbling on the table. Slowly and reluctantly, he sat up and opened his eyes allowing them to focus in the light. She groaned and tossed again, still with her eyes closed. As John came closer, he noticed that the lights on the metal device were flashing all sorts of colours now, in a fast and irregular pattern.

"Mya?" He touched her shoulder and she turned onto her side. John immediately grabbed the phone lying by the side of the table.

"John?" The voice on the other end was Jean's 

"Something's happening to her, I don't know what's going on, just get here quick!" John put the phone down and held onto Mya tightly as she tossed about.

Suddenly, her eyes shot open and she turned to face him.

"DON'T!" She screamed before backing herself away from him.

"Mya, it's okay, it's me, John," he tried his best to calm her down but she pushed herself off the bed, the wires attached to her head snapping free as she hit the ground.

"Stay away from me, I won't do it!" Mya managed to back herself into one of the corners of the room. As she did, Jean, Scott and the Professor came charging into the lab.

"What happened?" Jean asked, stopping just in front of Mya, still shaking in the corner with the two circular pads stuck to her forehead.'

"The lights on the thing were flashing, and then she opened her eyes, jumped off the table and started screaming at me to stay away from her," John stood back and Jean and Scott moved in closer to her.

"I won't do it, they can't make me do it," Mya shook her head in her hands as she curled herself up tighter in the corner.

"It's okay Mya, we won't make you do anything you don't want to, we just want to help you, that's all." Mya looked up at the two with wells of years running down her face. She paused, with the emptiest of eyes staring up at them.

"I'm not a bad person," she breathed heavily as she shifted her focus towards John, who stood in behind with the Professor, more scared and worried than he thought he could ever be in his lifetime. Finally Scott leaped forward and grabbed hold of Mya's left arm with both hands, Jean followed grabbing onto the right. Mya didn't flinch, she simply sighed deeply and lowered her head allowing Jean and Scott to help her up off the ground and sit her carefully back up on the table.

"Mya?" The Professor finally got a chance to get close to her. He pulled up directly in front of her, having to look up just lightly. "Mya, can you hear me?" He waited for a reply, but she just sat blankly. John stood back and watched, anxious for her to do or say anything. "Mya, I'm going to try and read your mind, I'll need you to relax as much as possible, okay?" The Professor closed his eyes and raised his hands to her head. The scorpion on her neck clicked, and she screamed for him to stop, both of them seizing and falling backwards, Mya onto the table and the Professor into his chair.

"Professor?" Jean rushed to his aid while John hurried over to Mya, helping her to sit up on the table and holding her tightly in his arms as he stroked her tussled hair and carefully peeling the pads from her forehead. She breathed deeply and stared blankly into the space in front of her, both of them rocking back and forth.

"I'm not like that John, I'm not."

"I know you're not," John reassured her, squeezing her tighter, "I know Mya, it's gonna be okay."


	15. Natural Order

NATURAL ORDER

I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.

The Professor had allowed for John to stay with Mya in a private room that he had asked Jean to prepare for them. John helped Mya down the hall towards the room. As they were walking, Kaylin and Faith started down the hall towards them.

"God, what did he do to her, she looks like hell," Faith whispered to Kaylin. Just then, Mya stopped and the light on the device switched from green to red. Faster than anyone of them could comprehend, Mya had pounced on Faith, holding her firmly up against the wall and drowning her, with her liquid hands over her nose and mouth.

"Do you know how much better this entire world would be if I killed you right here," Mya drew her face closer to Faith's whispering in her ear, "right now?" Mya's eyes turned into two silver balls right before Faith's eyes. John slowly took a step closer to Mya motioning for Kaylin to get out of the way.

"Mya?" He stepped closer. "Mya, let her go, you don't want to do this." Faith struggled for air as Mya pushed herder. The water dripped down Mya's arms and onto the hardwood floor.

"She deserves to die John, it's the natural order." Mya's voice now sounded as if she was underwater herself. John could see that Faith was drowning in Mya's hands.

"Mya, don't do this," he stepped closer to her, "you're not like this remember? You're better than this." John took a step closer to her. "Please Mya, for me please, don't do this." Mya blinked once, her eyes changing back to their regular colour. At the same time, her arms and hands returned to normal and she collapsed to her knees. Faith immediately bent over and started choking, holding onto her stomach and throat in pain and desperation. Storm came running down the hall seeing Faith choking and John rushing to Mya's side. 

"What happened here?" She rubbed Faith's back as she rid her lungs of water. Kaylin looked on from afar, shocked and disturbed at what had just happened. Storm looked over at John who was helping a weak and disoriented Mya up off the floor. "John, what's going on?" Storm asked again.

"That bitch tried to kill me!" Faith pointed to Mya and John as they headed back to their room.

"John?"

"Go talk to the Professor or Jean or something, tell them all about it. I'm sure that by tomorrow morning, the entire school will know what happened," John looked back at Faith and Kaylin. "She's tired and she needs rest, just leave her alone!" John yelled at them.

"John," Mya placed a hand on his chest, "let's go." John looked back one more time at the three women in the hall and continued on to the room silently.

Once in the room, John gently sat Mya down on one of the two beds that had been set up, rushing back to close the door. Mya sat up in the bed, shaking her head in her hands. As John sat down next to her, she looked up at him.

"What just happened?" John paused for a moment not sure of what she meant. "It's like I blacked out. I remember Faith saying something and that was it," Mya looked back down at the sheets in her hands, and started to breathe heavily, tears welling up in her eyes. "I can remember any of it, what happened?" She looked back at John. He could see the anxiety and fear in her eyes.

"You need some rest," he avoided the question, taking off her shoes and pulling the sheets out so she could climb underneath. "Just lay down and I'll tell you everything in the morning, okay?"

"John I want to know what's happening to me, I want to know what this thing is doing to me," she touched the skin by the device, careful not to touch the machine itself.  She hesitated for a moment, taking a deep breath in. "I want to know if I'm going to die." A single tear began to run down her cheek. Before it could reach her chin, John wiped it away with a soft finger.

"Mya," he looked her straight in the eyes, "I won't let that happen to you." She sniffled as he tucked her into the bed and headed for his own.

"John?" Mya stopped him half way. He paused and turned around slowly looking at her lying in the bed. "Stay with me, please?" she looked up at him, innocent and inviting. He thought for a moment before slowly and quietly taking off his shoes and climbing into the bed next to her, pulling the sheets back over the both of them. As soon as John was comfortable, Mya rested her head on his chest, wrapping her arm around his stomach. They stayed there for a few minutes, John unable to close his eyes with the thoughts that were running through his head. Mya held him tighter, nestling her head into his warm body.

"I don't want to lose you," she whispered to him in the darkness. John looked down at her, comfortable in his arms. "I can't lose you."

He held her closer to him, rubbing her back. "You won't," he kissed her head and stared up at the ceiling, listening to Mya's breathing become slower and deeper, until minutes later he was sure she was sleeping. "I won't let them have you, not now, not ever."


	16. Tough Guy

TOUGH GUY

I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.

          John awoke, in the early hours of the morning as a result of Mya's tossing. He looked over at her, now turned opposite to him, curled up comfortably under the sheets. Leaning over, he looker her over, making sure she was okay, and carefully uncovered himself, getting out of the bed and leaving the room, heading for the kitchen. Already sitting up at the table was Rogue.

          "Hey," Rogue greeted him as he approached the table to sit down. "Can't sleep?"

          "I dunno, it's just, I'm kinda, I dunno," John nervously fiddled with the napkin in front of him

          "You know, you don't have to play tough guy all the time, you can show emotions other than your anger and your ego." Rogue dipped her spoon back into the bowl of mint chip ice cream and smiled.

          "What are you talking about?" John straightened in his chair defensively.

          "I mean, I know you care about Mya more than you let on, and I know you want to make that known, but your ego is still getting in the way."

          "You leave me and my ego alone all right?" John pointed at Rogue.

          "Look John, all I'm saying is from what I can tell, you're in love with her, but you won't let yourself admit it." John looked back down at the napkin, Rouge nodding to herself, knowing that she had struck a nerve. "If you really love her, you should let her know. Not telling her is not fair to her, it's almost like lying to her." John looked up at this, now wondering if Rogue was right as much as he wanted to deny it. "Plus, who knows, maybe she's doing the same thing because she sees you doing it, maybe she could be holding something back from you too," Rouge paused finishing her ice cream and pushing the bowl aside.

          "I'm worried about her," John let out finally, not looking up at Rouge across the table.

          "Worried about what exactly?"

          "I'm worried about what this thing on her is doing to her, this device thing on her neck. I mean she almost killed Faith yesterday."

          "What, when?" Rogue's eyes widened, she hadn't known it was so bad.

          "Last night, I saw the lights on the thing change from green to red and she just jumped on Faith. I know that if I wasn't there last night, that she would have killed her. She tried to drown Faith with her powers, right there in the middle of the school hall, there's probably still a puddle on the ground." Now it was Rogue's turn to lower her head, trying to imagine what that must have been like for the both of them.

          "Well have they found a way to remove it yet, can't you just take it off?"

          "I tried, but when you touch it, it sends out a charge of electricity, I thought it was going to kill her."

          "I'm sorry," Rouge sympathized. She hadn't realized that John had been harboring all of these thoughts and emotions inside him.

          "One of the men that attacked her said that as long as she can manipulate water, that the device will be there for the rest of her life," John remembered. He quickly looked up at Rouge. "I'm not going to let her die Rogue, that's not going to happen," John's face hardened as the stern words came out of his mouth.

          "I know John, all she need is your help, Mya's going to be okay, I know it." John looked quietly back down at his napkin before reaching out for Rouge's hand.

          "Thanks Rouge," John looked up at her smiling back. "Thanks for helping me find my other side."

          "Well as long as your other side isn't the dark side, and your father isn't Darth Vader, then I think you'll be okay." They both laughed. John pushed his chair out and got up.

          "I'm gonna go check on her, thanks again."

          "Anytime," she smiled once more before John turned around and left the room, headed back to the bedroom.


	17. Control

CONTROL

I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.

As John walked down the hall, he stopped, noticing a rumbling coming from one of the adjoining halls.

"Hello?" He turned around to see if he could see where the noise was coming from. All of a sudden, Kaylin was being thrown through a closed door and into the wall across the hallway, landing with a thud on the ground. A pool of water followed form the broken doorway. John ran towards Kaylin, picking up the pieces of wood from off of her.

"Kaylin, can you hear me?" John dusted her off. Kaylin stood herself up, shaking the rest of the bits and pieces off her clothes.

"I'm going to kill her!" Kaylin's fists tightened at her side. When she opened them again, two large balls of flames appeared in each of them, and she started back in the room. When John looked inside the room, Mya was standing in the middle, her arms completely transparent and her eyes fully silver.

As Kaylin stepped into the room, she launched a continuous stream of fire at Mya. 

"No!" John yelled just as Mya retaliated with a stream of water from her hands, the two elements clashing in mid air, filling the room with steam.

"Come on!" Mya taunted Kaylin as she fought back.

"Stop!" John drew the fire into his hands, allowing Mya's surge to hit Kaylin, knocking her back against the wall across the hallway unconscious. "Kaylin!" John watched as her head fell limp to the side.

"One step closer to fulfilling the Natural Order," Mya's voice had changed again to sound as if she were under water. "She deserves everything I'm gonna do to her. She's a freak John," Mya took a step closer to John at the door.

"Oh my God!" Faith came running down the hall with Rogue and the other girls from Mya's room. Kneeling next to Kaylin, Faith shouted her name, hoping she would wake up. Mya cracked a smile when Kaylin didn't respond.

"Mya, we're all mutants here. I'm a mutant," John paused, looking at her with sympathy and despair in his eyes. "And so are you." As John spoke, Mya seemed to her colder and angrier. The other girls stood back and watched from outside the frightened and anxious.

"Mya, they're controlling you, you know you can fight this, we all do," Rouge stepped forward.

"Freaks like you need to be wiped out," Mya stared coldly back at her. "As for me, "she paused proudly, "The Natural Order will look after me."

"What are you talking about?" John worried. Mya's face softened and her body loosened.

"Do you care about me?" She looked at John tauntingly, her arms returning to their normal form.

"You already know the answer to that."

"Do you care about me?" Mya yelled again.

"Of course I do, more than you'll ever know," John sighed.

"Then you'll understand what I have to do." Her arms turned back to the water-like form and she inched forward towards John.

"John, do something," Faith demanded at his side.

"I know what you want and I'm not going to do it, I'm not going to fight you. I'm not going to help this Natural Order bullshit anymore!" John stomped in place.

"Fine, that just makes it that much easer." Mya charged for John, and the other girls screamed.

"No!" Faith yelled. As she clapped her hands together, a bolt of electricity charged between them, hissing and crackling loudly. Just as the surge of water left Mya's hands, Faith countered it with a fiery bolt of blue electricity. It charged up the stream of water and into her arms.

Mya let out an awesome and painful scream, her arms immediately changing back to their normal state and her body seizing and falling to the ground.

The story is finishing up.

Sorry for the delays peoples…


	18. Faith

**FAITH**

**I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.**

John stood in place with his eyes closed, still waiting for the water to hit his body. Startled by the scream, he opened his eyes and looked around, wondering what had happened. When he saw Mya on the ground, his heart stopped. Just then, Wolverine and Scott barrelled into the room with claws drawn and visor ready. They watched as John ran to Mya.

"What's going on?" Scott demanded.

"Well I heard a noise, then I got out of bed, then I walked around to see who it was…" Faith rambled on sarcastically.

"Don't play Faith, what happened to Mya?" Wolverine snarled.

"Who knew water was such a great conductor of electricity?" She smirked again mockingly.

On the ground, Mya breathed heavily, her eyes still silver in colour. The device beeped and flashed brightly as she tried to move.

"Mya?" John kneeled down beside her worriedly.

"Get away from me," the words oozed out of Mya's tightly ground teeth as she struggled to turn her head away from him. The other girls watched as Wolverine and Scott and Rouge inched closer to the two in the middle of the room. 

In the hallway, the other girls were met by Storm. She only paused to see what was going on, but helped Kaylin up and to the lab seeing that Scott and Wolverine were taking care of things inside the room.

"Mya, don't do this, you're better than this. I know you're strong, you can fight this. Just let me help you." John yelled at her. She turned her head back, snuffing at him. Her body was lay stiff on the ground, seizing sporadically, but Mya too proud to show any pain or fear. "Fight it damn it!" John couldn't think of anything else to do for her.

Rouge kneeled down beside John, placing a gloved hand on his arm. He looked back at her hopelessly distraught. Rogue nodded sympathetically and smiled, making John wonder. 

Slowly she removed her glove, revealing her bare skin. Mya looked struggled to turn her head to look up at what Rouge was doing. "You're going to die you…" but before Mya could finish her sentence, Rouge had placed a single finger on her cheek, causing her to lose her breath and her body to seize up once more.

"What are you doing?" John momentarily though of pulling her arm away but remembered that he too would be affected by her power.

"Rouge?" Scott wondered form behind her.

"Just wait," she let out as the blue veins crept up and covered her and Mya's skin. Mya wrestled to get one more breath into her lungs as Rouge put her whole palm against her face.

"Rouge!" John yelled again helpless to stop her form what she was going. 

Rouge raised her other hand and watched as it became transparent and water-like. Extending her hand, she fired a stream of water at the wall in front of her. Slowly, Mya's eyes changed back to their normal colour, now wide and fearful. The device beeped loudly and rapidly, its lights flashing erratically until it suddenly fell silent.

"Take it off." Rouge instructed as the water still surged form her hand.

"You know I can't." John yelled.

"Just take it off John, hurry!" John quickly reached under her hair, and felt for the device. When it didn't shock him, he grabbed hold of it and, to his surprise; he was able to easily pull it off, throwing it to the side. As soon as John had taken the wretched device off, Rouge drew her hand away from Mya. 

Her head fell with a heavy thud on the ground. The last of the air that was in her lungs left her, as her head dropped to the side and her eyes closed.

"Mya?" John whispered terrified of the worst. The room waited anxiously and silently for her breath to return to her body but nothing happened. "Mya?" John whispered again, his breath shortening and his eyes welling up. He leaned over her body nervously, stroking her soft cheek with his hand. Her skin was cold to the touch, her life force being drained by Rouge. "She's not breathing!" John yelled out desperately. He put his ear to her chest, not hearing anything. "I can't hear a heartbeat!" John looked up at Rouge then at the others in the room. "Somebody, please do something!" John buried his head in his hands miserably not being able to help her.

"Faith!" Wolverine called back. She was still standing just inside the doorway, watching everything that was going on. "Faith, help her," Wolverine retracted his claws and turned around to face her. Faith looked surprised at Wolverine's request.

"No way, she is out of control! She tried to kill John! And what about Kaylin? She tried to kill her too!" Faith shook her head stubbornly. "There's no way, I'm helping her."

"Faith please!" John begged, turning around to look her in the eyes. Faith was caught off guard when she saw the tears burning down John's face. "Please don't let her die," he begged. "I can't lose her." Faith thought to herself for a moment looking into John despairing eyes. Her stomach fell inside her and her head hurt trying to make a decision.

"Faith," John swallowed. She looked up at him on his knees, holding onto Mya as if she were _his_ life. "Please, if you can help her, do it."

Faith said nothing but lowered her head, not able to look at John anymore. Sighing she made her way over to John, Rogue getting up allowing Faith to take her place beside Mya. She looked down at Mya, who lay limp in John's arms. Looking back up at John she bit her bottom lip, secretly wondering if this was the best thing to do.

"Stay back," she warned before clapping her hands together and revealing a bright blue rod of electricity between her palms. Taking a deep breath Faith placed her hands on Mya's chest, sending the bolts of electricity into her body, all her muscles tensing up and convulsing. When she took her hands off, the room waited in still silence for something to happen, but not even a single breath came from her.

"Do it again." John directed. Taking another breath Faith clapped her hands together again and placed them on her chest causing the same reaction to occur. Still nothing happened.

"Again!" John begged.

"John," Rouge touched his shoulder with her gloved hand.

"No!" He flicked the hand away. "I'm not giving up, just do it again okay, please!" John concentrated on Mya's face not taking his eyes away. He couldn't bring himself to face what was happening. "Do it again," he pleaded, "please!"

"John," Scott interrupted, "you have to stop," he paused finding it hard just to say the words. "She's gone John, its over."

"No it's not…" John whispered desperately. Turning to Faith, he took hold of her arm. "Please Faith, just do it one more time, all I'm asking is that you try one more time, that's it. Please." 

Inside, Faith felt like she wanted to cry herself just from looking into the disparity in John's eyes. Clapping her hands together she charged them one last time.

"Faith," Scott warned. Taking a deep breath she placed her charged hands on Mya's chest.

**Gotta write the rest…**

**The end is soon!!!**

**Thanks again to Faith, Kaylin and all of well, my readers!!!**

**It means so much that you all review so much and like my story!**


	19. Breathe

**BREATHE**

**I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.**

The room was still and anxiety ran high as Faith took her hands away from Mya. Everyone looked on, secretly waiting for some kind of miracle, but Mya didn't move, she didn't even flinch. John sat beside her, the silence so loud in his mind that he couldn't come up with a single thought or feeling.

"I'm sorry John, I tried," Faith lowered her head to the side as not to look at Mya's body anymore. John's breath was staggered as he stared down at her on the floor. Slowly, he leaned over, taking her up in his arms and holding onto her more tightly than he had ever before.

"I'm so sorry Mya," he whispered just as she took in a laborious breath by his ear. Immediately, John pulled away, shocked and unbelieving of what he had only prayed would happen. "Mya?" He looked her over, waiting for it to happen again.

"What, what is it John?" Faith looked back at Mya curiously.  Leaning into her again, he put his ear up to her mouth where she struggled to take in another quiet breath.

"She's breathing! She's alive!" John exclaimed. Scott and Logan leaned over to see what was happening. "She's alive," was all that John could think to say. Scott kneeled down to examine her.

"Let me take her back to the lab," Scott asked John who quickly moved out of the way for him to Pick her up and carry her out of the room. 

Just as John was up to follow behind Scott, he stopped in his tracks, turning around to face Rogue and Faith who just watched as he was leaving.

He looked at them timidly, stepping closer to the both of them.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to the both of you. I don't know what I would have done without her, so, thanks." John tried his best. The girls smiled and nodded as John turned to leave the room. He walked slowly down the hall with the overbearing thought that he would not want to face what was waiting for him in the lab. Miracles didn't happen to him, he made his own luck, and that's how it had been since he had left Canada so long ago. But something inside him still wished, hoped and prayed that Mya would be okay, that he would be able to look into her smiling eyes and tell her what he had wanted to say since she had arrived at the school.

As the doors of the lab opened, he craned his head inside, reluctant to step inside. As the looked around, he noticed the room was mostly empty. Walking into the room he stopped beside Jean and the Professor, who were watching over Mya in the folding bed they had wheeled in for her. He smiled down at her, sleeping peacefully in the bed with the help of oxygen tubes.

"Is she…" john could barely muster the words. This scenario had happened far too many times in the fast few days, and all of them, he thought, were because of him. "Is she going to be okay?" He looked up at the Professor in his chair. Jean left the room for the two to talk.

"She's blacked out" the Professor bowed his head.

"She's what?" John looked at him confused.

"She's in a coma, but she's stable. Right now her chances of waking up soon look very good."

"Chance, there's only a chance?" John took her hand in his. "What if she doesn't wake up?" He moved Mya's hair out of her face as she inhaled with less effort than before.

"Well," the Professor paused. "If she doesn't wake up with in the next twenty-four hours, the chances of her slipping further into the coma will increase dramatically to the point where her brain will begin to shut down." John sadly nodded to himself, not wanting to believe what he was hearing.

"And if her brain shuts down?" But John already knew the answer. He paused shifting his emotions as he wished for her eyes to open.

"If her brain shuts down, she will die, and there won't be any coming back from it." The Professor answered softly. He waited for a moment for any more questions from John. Deciding there were no more, he turned to leave the room.


	20. Until Today

**UNTIL TODAY**

**I DO NOT OWN**** any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.**

            As the doors closed, John pulled up a chair beside the bed. He held her hand tightly as he inched closer to the bedside.

            "I won't blame you if you decide not to wake up," he smiled sadly, "but I really don't know if I could handle seeing you go." John kissed her hand and rested his head on her stomach,  wrapping his free hand around her stomach. Closing his eyes, he wondered still, how all of this could have happened to her. How could she be so near to death, so many times, and escape with so little room to spare?

            "Third time's a charm," he whispered, hoping that this would be the last time her life would be threatened. Peacefully he rested until the rising and falling of Mya's chest rocked him to sleep.

            "John?" his head was warm with Mya's body heat. It was hours later when John was disturbed.

            "John?" he felt a hand stroke across his head. He moaned, forgetting for a moment where he was or what had happened. When his eyes adjusted, he looked up and was greeted by Mya's warm smiling face. "Hey," she smiled down at him with his face still on her stomach, "how are ya?" She ran her fingers through his hair as he looked up at her shocked.

            "Mya?" John raised his head, kissing her hand in his.

            "It's okay, it's me." John took her cheek in his hand, overwhelmed with the happiness of looking into her eyes and touching her warm skin.

            "Mya, I was so…" he paused, bowing his head, slightly embarrassed. "I was so scared for you." Mya's face softened sympathetically at his show of emotion. "I didn't want to leave you in Canada; I would have stayed there with you until today if I had thought it would have helped you." John rambled on.

            "John…"

            "I closed myself off to the world because I swore that I would never get attached to anything or let anything get attached to me." John paused for a second, mustering up the courage to say what he was thinking. He looked up into her soft eyes. "But I don't want that anymore, I don't want to be alone." John took a deep breath in calming his nerves. "Mya, I love you," he sighed relieved, "I don't think I ever really stopped."

            "John, you don't…"

            "You don't have to say anything, it's okay, I just, I just wanted to tell you. I didn't want to keep it from you anymore." John took a deep breath.

            "John," Mya stopped him before he could start another sentence. "I'm not going anywhere," she ran her finger through his hair again, "except with you." They looked into each other's eyes silently caring for each other. "You don't have to be alone, you were never alone. There are people here who would risk their lives for you, people who care about what happens to you, people who just plain care. And I will never leave you, or let you leave me again," she passed wiping a lonely tear from her cheek. "I care about you too much," they both smiled in the moment, "I love you too much to let that ever happen again." Leaning into, John kissed Mya lovingly caressing her warm face with is finger tips.

            Interrupting the two, Rogue stepped into the room. Clearing her throat, she raised their attention. "You're awake," Rogue smiled as she approached them. "The Professor told me what happened.

            "Rogue, I'm…" Mya started.

            "It's okay, you weren't yourself, and you had no idea. You didn't do anything to me; it wasn't me that you hurt." Mya looked up, shocked and unknowing.

            "What do you mean you weren't the one I hurt?" She looked worriedly over at John. "What did I do?" She looked over his face as he lowered his head, and fidgeted with her fingers in his hands. "John, what have I done?" Mya took a deep breath anticipating the bad news.

            "You were fighting Kaylin," John couldn't bring himself to look into her eyes. He hated reminding her of the damage she had done. 

            "And?" Mya could only imagine all the things that she could have done.

            "And she got hurt," Rogue turned her head away

            "John, just tell me what happened," Mya squeezed his hand in hers. He rolled his head before speaking.

            "You and Kaylin were fighting, and, you threw her through the door and into the wall," John looked up at Mya's worried face.

            "How is she?" Mya began to take out the tube from her nose and the monitor pads from her temples and chest.

            "Severe concussion, broken ribs, sprained wrist," Rogue averted her eyes when Mya looked at her.

            "Where is she now?" Mya removed the sheeted from her legs and edged to the side of the bed.

            "Mya, where are you going?" John grabbed hold of her arm before she could step off the bed.

            "I have to go see her John," she looked worriedly into his eyes, "please." John stared deeply into her eyes for a moment before nodding.

            "Just hold on a sec," he hurried over to the other side of the room and grabbed a wheelchair from the far corner. Carefully Rogue helped her into it as John held the chair still. 

            "Thanks," Mya grabbed Rogue's arm before John started to move her. Rogue nodded silently as John smile at her and headed for the door.

**Lots of things have happened in my life this summer. Things that were definitely not fun or easy for me. This story was one of the last things on my mind. I will be trying to finish this story but please don't hate if I don't. I'm dealing with many other things at the moment, not to mention just starting school again.**

**Thanks again to all the reviewers who wanted more. Brightest Blessings to you all**

***Baby D***


	21. Lucky

**LUCKY**

**DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.**

John rolled Mya up to the door of the room where Kaylin was staying.

"Wait," she breathed heavily as John was about to open the door.

"What is it?" John turned back to her.

"Just give me a second," she stared at the door, trying to imagine what was on the other side. She tried as hard as she could to remember what had happened between them but it was almost as if it had been completely removed from her memory.

"You okay?" John kneeled down beside the Mya in the chair.

"Yeah, I think I need to do this by myself," she didn't take her eyes off the wooden door.

"Okay, but if you need me…"

"It's okay. I'll be fine,'" she finally turned to John and nodded, "you go ahead." He looked at her for a moment before standing back up.

"Okay. I'll be back in a few minutes." He looked down at her, feeling the urge to kiss her. Every cell in his body told him to, but his mind resisted. "I'll see you soon." When John was out of sight, Mya rolled up to the door and turned the handle opening the door, revealing Kaylin lying on the bed. She closed the door behind her and neared the side of the bed. Kaylin turned at the sound of her approaching her side, her eyes widening at the sight of her in her room.

"It's okay, I'm not here to hurt you, I'm so sorry for what I did to you. I didn't know what I was doing. I don't even remember."

"Get out of here." Kaylin whispered. "Get out of here and don't come back."

"I understand that you're mad, and you have every reason, but I…"

"_You_ are the reason they came here. None of this would have happened if you hadn't showed up on our doorstep in the first place."

"I didn't have anywhere else to go," Mya shook her head.

"And you can't stay here. If you stay here, I'll kill you myself." Kaylin shook in anger and pain in the bed. There were tears starting in her eyes. Mya looked down at her hands in her lap. "I never want to see you again; I don't even want to hear your name." The words cut deep into Mya as she listened to Kaylin's shaky voice. "You're family's lucky," Mya's head shot up, "you can't get near them ever again." Mya's heart clenched at the thought. Her eyes burned and she could barely breathe as he words sunk in.

"Kaylin…" she tried not to cry.

"Get out of my sight," Kaylin gritted her teeth letting the words seep out. Mya struggled to breathe as she turned and left the room.

**So I realize that it's been a while and there's a whole new movie out now... but I thought I'd try and finish the stories I've put up. Thanks again to those who have reviewed. I will be trying to finish each of my stories slowly!**

** Thank!**

**Baby D **


	22. Good Riddance

**Good Riddance**

**DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.**

"Hey John, how are you doing?" Rouge sat down beside him as he slumped in the couch watching TV. John paid no attention to Rogue as she made herself comfortable beside him. He flicked through the channels so fast Rogue was barely able to catch what was on the stations. "John, how's Mya doing?"

"I don't know, she's in with Kaylin, actually she's been in there for the past hour or so," he continued to flip through the channels, not stopping on any particular one. The mansion was quiet as everyone was going to or ah gone to bed.

"Oh, well how are you doing?" She asked him. John immediately stopped flipping.

"Me?" He looked over at her. She nodded. "Uh, I'm okay, I guess. This past week or so has been kinda crazy, I mean, well you know what I mean."

"Yeah I do," Rogue nodded as she looked back at the television. When she looked back at John he was staring down at the remote in his hands, gliding his fingers over the soft rubber buttons. They sat in silence for a while listening to the television but not actually watching it.

"Well I guess I should go check on her, see what's going on." John tossed the remote to Rogue and got up from the couch. Before leaving the room he flicked the lighter in his hand.

Knocking on the door he quietly entered Mya's room. "Mya?" He walked up to the bed only to realize that she wasn't in it. Figuring she must still be in Kaylin's room repairing damage, he left her room and headed for Kaylin's. Quietly, he walked down the hall and up to her door, knocking twice.

"Kaylin?" He opened the door a little to see Kaylin sitting up in her bed. The television was on the corner of the room was quietly tuned in to a news channel.

"Good riddance," said before she looked up at him. As soon as she saw him, her face immediately reflected the anger she felt. "What do you want?"" she sneered at him, turning back to the television.

"Did Mya come to see you?" he stepped into the room.

"Yeah," she replied, she still didn't take her eyes off of the television set, "and don't let that bitch back in this school again." When her eyes finally met John's they were frigid.

"What do you mean _back _in the school, what did you say to her?" John came closer to the edge of the bed. He could almost hear his heart pounding inside his chest in anxiety.

"I told her exactly what I thought and nothing more."

"Kaylin, what did you say to her? Where is she?" Kaylin looked as if she could care less. He flicked his lighter nervously in his hand.

"I told her that she should leave and not come back, that none of this would have happened if she wasn't here in the first place."

"You bitch…" John seethed.

"Hopefully the protestors have found her by now. News says they're in the area." Kaylin looked back at the television, which showed a house on fire and masses policemen and women arresting people with signs.

"I can't believe you…" John curled his lip at her before he turned around and left the room, slamming the door behind him so hard that it knocked a picture off the adjoining wall.


	23. Fault

**Faulted**

**DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.**

"John! Where are you going?" Bobby chased after him as she sped down the hallway. "John, wait up!" When he finally caught up to John, he was a bit out of breath. Not once did John look over at him as he walked. "Wait!" Bobby grabbed his arm but John wrenched it away. "Would you just stop for one second? What's going on?"

"That bitch Kaylin doesn't know how to keep her damn mouth shut." John stormed down the hall growling the words.

"What did she do? Wait, where's Mya?"

"She gone, she probably half way back to Canada by now. Damn it!" He flicked his lighter in his hand and rolled a ball of fire around in his palm.

"John, put that out. We'll go to the professor, he can bring her back."

"That's the point Bobby, she doesn't want to come back, she can't come back here and it's my fault. None of this would have happened if it weren't for me, if I hadn't lied to her. Damn it!" he flicked his lighter closed before they arrived at the Professor's door. As he was about to put his hand on the knob, the door opened to reveal Xavier behind the desk.

"Professor, she's..."

"Not too far from here. She's on a train headed North towards the boarder. Ask Scott or Wolverine to take you."

"I'll come with you," Bobby piped up from behind him.

"Professor I…" John stood before him suddenly looking sad and exhausted.

"It's not your fault John, you had no control over the events that took place." Bobby stood back looking at John, still not used to his more sensitive side. He was so used to seeing John with his guard up, never displaying any other emotion than extreme annoyance or anger.

"I don't know what to do," he looked up at the Professor as he came out from behind his desk.

"You're a smart, young man John, I'm sure you'll work things out," he smiled almost knowingly, which made him feel a bit better.

"Thanks," he said before turning and leaving the room. Bobby nodded his head back to the professor before following behind John. Just as they turned the corner from the Professor's office, John slammed into Wolverine coming from the other side.

"Logan, Maia's…"

"Yeah the Professor sent me the mind message. I hate it when he does that. Doesn't give a person a chance to argue."

"Then let's go!" John headed for the garage, followed by Bobby.

"Why am I _always_ the babysitter…" Logan commented under his breath as he shook his head.  
"I'm supposed to come with you," Scott walked up to them as they entered the garage.

"Great..." Logan shook his head again.

"We'll take the Rendezvous." Scott walked up and pressed the button on his keychain to open the doors.

"Great the family-mobile..." Logan mumbled as he got into the passenger's seat.

"The Professor said she's heading for Saratoga Springs. It's about 45 minutes from here."

"She'll be gone by then…" John closed the door beside him as Scott started the car.

"Then let me drive." Logan held out his hand to Scott for the keys.

"No, I've got it, everyone buckle in." Scott revved the engine. As the garage door opened he slammed his foot down on the gas sending the SUV barreling down the driveway.


	24. Saratoga

**SARATOGA**

**DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.**

Mya sat inside the bus terminal in Saratoga Springs with nothing but the few dollars left over from the allowance the Professor had left for her, the clothes on her back and her ticket to Tennessee in hand. All around her people were walking by, meeting and leaving family and loved ones. It made her think of John, how much he meant to her. She had promised him she would never leave but thought he would understand her reason for deciding to go.

Getting the distinct feeling that she was being watched Mya lifted her head to look around the terminal. In the far corner by the sales agents, a m and woman sat reading a newspapers and just to her left a man stood talking on his cell phone and just behind her were three small boys passing cheery bombs back and forth. Everything seemingly normal, but something still put her on edge. She needed to find something to ground herself. She needed to talk to John. Spotting the pay-phone in the far corner she took the last of her change from her pocket and put it in the slot. She had to think for a minute to try and remember what Rouge had said the internal school number was.

"Hello?" A man answered on the other line.

"Hi, sorry I might have the wrong number..."

"Who are you looking for?" He chuckled on the other end.

"Um," Mya turned to her right to find the couple reading their papers now looking up at her. "Um, I'm looking for," she thought twice about saying it out loud as she didn't want the strange couple watching her to hear.

"You there? You okay?" He asked concerned.

"Yes, sorry," she began to whisper, "I'm looking for John, or Pyro rather, is this the right number?"

"John? Yeah, you have the right place, just the wrong extension. This is Piotr, Colossus. John's room 39 not 93, but he's not here right now."

"He isn't? Do you know where he went?" She watched as the boys threw the firecrackers at the ground, jumping excitedly whenever one exploded. A security guard was making his way over to them. "It's kind of an emergency."

"Uh, yeah, here, let's see if I can get this thing to transfer you through." She heard him fiddle around with this phone for a minute. "Here you go," she heard before the phone began to ring again.

"Hello? Professor?" Just as she heard Logan's voice, one of the children had thrown the full chain of lit firecrackers into a garbage can, which exploded into a ball of sparkling fire. The can turned over from the force of the fireworks, sending flames in all directions. People began to scream as the flames whizzed by their heads launching far and high, catching every poster on the wall above it ablaze. The flames crawled up the wall and spread left and right within seconds.

"Hello? Who is this?" Logan asked on the other end. He could hear people screaming and yelling in the background.

"Logan?" She glanced quickly over to where the couple had been sitting to find no on there. When she looked over in the corner, the man in the hat had vanished as well making her very nervous Damn it!" Mya yelled seeing people catch on fire trying to save the children who had started the fire.

"Help him!" A woman yelled as what Mya guessed was her husband rolled back and forth on the ground trying to put his clothes out. Reluctantly, Mya dropped the phone and ran over to the couple. Seeing the flames and the frantic people opened the floodgates to all the pent up memories of her family and her home going up in flames. It cut to her very core and she wasn't about to do nothing this time. This time she _was _there and she _could_ do something about it.

"Just hold still!" Mya stood over the man. She concentrated all her energy into her hands staring fiercely down at him, seeing in him her the pain and suffering her father must have gone through. Slowly and with effort, struggled to change her hands from solid to liquid but they kept changing back.

"Come on! Work damn it!" She focused on her hands, looking at them and focusing as hard as she could. The device must have done something to her abilities. "COME ON!" She yelled one last time, shaking hr hands at her sides. Just as she did, jets of water came surging out of her arms. Mya finally pointed her hands at the man on the ground putting out the flames, which had now melted his sweater to his skin. Turning around she aimed her hands at the garbage can but the more she sprayed it the bigger it grew. "Oil! Are you kidding me?" Turning her attention to the people on fire, Mya blasted each one of them as if it were a game of whack-a-mole, hitting each one that crossed her line of sight.

"Everyone get out! Get out now!" She tried to convince those who ran frantically around the terminal in every direction. As she was bout to put the flames out on the last person she could see, she felt something sharp jab into her back. She screamed as an electric shock jolted through her body, magnified by her powers. With ever bit of will she had left, Mya turned around to see the couple reading the paper running straight for her. She tried to use her powers to blast them but for some unbeknownst reason, they wouldn't work. Having no other option, she ran, out the doors, a few strides down the street into a park backing onto backing onto a forest.

'_There's nowhere to run. _' She heard inside her head. Turning a full 360, she saw no one.

"Who's there? Professor?"

'_The Natural Order will be fulfilled._' She heard the voice again. It couldn't have been the professor's voice, it was much younger, and had a hint of an accent she couldn't place.

"Stop it! Please! Just leave me alone! Please God just leave me alone!" She cried, feeling absolutely helpless and alone.

"_There is no resisting what is to come._"

"Mya!" She turned towards the street to see John and the rest running towards her, Wolverine with his claws drawn and ready.

"John!" She started to run towards him.

"Look out!" Was all he could say before launching a fireball towards her. If she had ducked even a millisecond later it would have hit her square in the chest. Turning around to see what he as aiming at, her heart almost stopped as what looked like at least fifty humans and mutants coming out of the forest from every direction. Every human with a weapon in hand and every mutant with a controller clasped to the back of their necks. One mutant sped towards her almost faster than she could comprehend. She tried to use her powers on him, but her hands just phased from water to skin before he knocked her to the ground. Cracking her head on the hard ground she screamed in pain.

"Mya!" John swirled a growing ball of fire between his hands before he sent it flying towards three more people heading for her.

"Is she all right?" Cyclops yelled, blasting those heading towards him. Just as John was about to reach Mya, another mutant, appearing out of nowhere, flew towards him and picked him up into the air, causing him to drop his lighter. Frantically John punched and scratched the woman's face but she continued to fly him higher and higher into the air. Bracing himself in a last ditch effort, he reached around and grabbed hold of the controller on the woman's neck. He hissed as electricity surged through them both, causing her to lose concentration and fall towards the ground.

"Hold on!" Wolverine ran in their direction. Using one of the approaching enemies, he kicked him the chest, and as he fell backwards, used his body as leverage to jump up ad grab hold of John's legs dragging both John and his attacker back down to the ground.

As soon as Wolverine's feet touched the ground, he pulled John away from the woman, at the same time, swinging his arm around and thrusting his claws into the controller on the back of her neck. She fell with a shrill to the ground, writhing in pain from the now malfunctioning controller on her neck.

"Mya! Where's Mya?" John frantically looked around the spot where she had been attacked! "She's gone!"

"There Bobby pointed towards a huge man, almost 7 feet tall carrying an unconscious Mya into the forest. He tried to send an icy blast towards them but as soon as they stepped into he forest they disappeared. "What the?" Bobby stood confused for only a moment before another woman barreling towards him. Just as he was about to reach him Cyclops blasted him from behind, knocking her to the ground.

With finally a spare moment, John hopped to his feet and headed full speed towards the forest. As soon as he reached the parameter, a high pitched noise sounded and all of the mutants stopped dead where ever they were. All of the lights on their controllers flashed brightly and they immediately ll headed back into the forest.

"John!" Cyclops yelled as he disappeared along with all the other mutants and humans back into the forest. "John!" Scott called again, but it was too late, all those who had not bee killed or hurt had disappeared into the trees. Following behind Bobby ran towards the forest only to slam himself info an invisible forcefield."Stand back," Scott warned before sending an energy blast towards the shield with no avail.

"Damn it!" He tried again with the same results. To date, there wasn't any kind of shield he could think of that his power couldn't penetrate.

"What's wrong?" Logan came to stand beside him.

"My powers won't penetrate it," Scott shook his head.

"Well did you try? I man the they're stuck in there!"

"Did I try? What do you mean, 'did I try?' You think I _want_ to leave them in there?" He turned angrily to face Logan.

"Hey! Hey!" Let's contact the professor, I'm sure he'll be able to tell us more about what's going on," Bobby rationalized.

"Look who's feeling inadequate..." Logan sneered before heading back to the car.

"One day Logan, one day..." Scott shook his head livid, following behind him.


	25. Inside

**INSIDE**

**DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.**

When Mya woke up, she was locked in a room, strapped to a cold, metal table. As she struggled to open her eyes, she tried to focus on the room around her. It was grey, sterile and held nothing familiar about it. Trying to focus her eyes, she thought to phase to get out of the straps. As soon as she did, behind her neck clicked and a terrifying jolt was sent through what felt like every cell of her body.

"Don't move!" She heard a female voice caution from across the room. Apparently she wasn't alone. "It hurts more every time you try to use your powers." Straining her neck, she turned her head still in pain, to see a young red headed girl, chained up in the opposite corner.

"I have to find him," Mya's words were labored and she returned her head to its natural position. "I have to find John."

"Whoever John is, he's probably caught by now..." The girl slumped down the wall to sit back on the ground. "They'll find anyone like us in here. They can pretty much find you anywhere once they've got one of these things on you," she turned her head to show she also had a controller on.

"Where are we?" Mya pulled at the straps around her wrists with no avail, not used to being confined by anything.

"HQ. Natural Order headquarters. They use a mutant to cloak it and another to move it anywhere. I guess you could say, we're no where," the girl chuckled hopelessly.

"John!" Mya instinctively tried to sit up as whatever sedative finally wore off. As soon as she did, she was jerked back by her restraints. "Oww." She sighed as her head cracked against the table.

"Careful," the girl giggled again, covering her mouth with her hands.

"I need get out of here," she looked around the sparse, dull concrete room, with one exit, no windows and the small girl in the corner. Looking closer, she noticed that the chains holding the girl were purple. There was a vent in the ceiling in the middle of the room and a pipe that stuck out of the wall just beside the door. "I have to get out of here!" She almost chanted to herself, over and over as she thought.

"How are you planning to do that?" The girl twirled a lock of her hair around her fingers, watching as Mya lay still on the table. Suddenly, she let out a piercing scream as she tried to phase again. The controller clicked and flashed as parts of Mya's body phased from solid to liquid. The pain was intense, as if it were trying to rip apart every cell in her body. The more she tried to concentrate, the more it tore at her. Finally, her wrist phased just long enough to slide through the strap.

"Woah..." The girl sat up straight watching intensely.

"Ugh!" She yelled one more time before sighing and relaxing back down onto the table. That had just about taken everything out of her. Her every cell still tingling and burning, she prayed for the pain to recede.

"I've never seen anyone that could do that. How did you do that?" The girl stood up again, now that she might actually have a chance at escape. "Are you okay? Hello?"

"Yeah," Mya sighed again, her body starting to feel like normal again. She kept completely still until there was no more tingling and the lights started their rhythmic pace again. Reaching over, she undid the clasps on her other wrist and legs.

"Hey, hey you're free! How did you do that? No one's supposed to be able to use their powers with this thing on. Hey!" The girl called at her as she sat up on the edge of the gurney. Mya looked up at the excited girl in the corner who looked more desperate than ever to get out of there as well. Mya only thought for a moment before hopping down off the table and heading across the room.

"What's your name?" Mya asked as she undid the clasps on the purple chains around her wrists.

"Crystal," she didn't move as Mya undid the rest of her restraints. "My name is Crystal, thank you so much for this," she rubbed her wrist as she walked slowly behind Mya.

"I have to find him," Mya walked up to to the thick steel door that held them in. She ran her hand over the metal, trying to figure out some way of getting around it. "How are we going to get out of here?"

"Well, that I can help with now," Crystal rubbed her wrists before closing her eyes and clasping her hands together. Mya stood back as she waited for the girl to do something, but she just stood there, hands clasped in front of her face and her eyes closed.

"Crystal?" Mya watched her intently just as the door unlocked and swung open a crack. She let out a deep sigh, as of she'd been holding her breath the whole time. "What just happened?" Mya looked from the door, to Crystal and back again. "How did you do that?"

"I have a kind of dual ability," she shrugged. "One, is my invisibility, which the controller stops right away," she stretched her neck and wrists as she made her way over.

"And the other?" Mya whispered, still staring she shook her head watching as the petite framed girl peaked out the door.

"The other," Crystal looked back at Mya. "It's kind of hard to explain. It's almost like I project my energy out to do things in other places." Mya's eyes widened, wondering what that would be like, and why the controller didn't stop it.

"It's like I can put my consciousness somewhere else while my body stays still. I can use that version to do things anywhere else I can think of. But I have to have seen wherever I want to go at least once."

Mya shook her head at the information, feeling almost embarrassed that this little 12 or 14 year old girl was talking about things she could barely understand herself. "You put yourself outside the door?"

"Uh huh."

"How come the controller didn't stop you?" Mya stood back a little suspicious now.

"I don't know. Somehow they know that only a modified form of Xendrite, that energy ridden material, can keep me from being able to use that part of my ability."

"That's what the chains are for?" Mya turned back to the purple chains on the ground.

"Yeah, but that's all I've got. Like I said, my ability is only good for places I've seen. I only saw the door as they were shoving me in here and that's because I put up a fight. What do we do now?"

As amazing as Crystal's abilities were, she was right, they weren't going to help them in the situation they were in. For all they knew, the controllers could go off at anytime and they could be directed anywhere to fight people just like themselves.

"I have to find John, I know he's in here somewhere. I know he's looking for me," Mya walked up to the door and Crystal moved out of the way for her to look out into the hallway. There was nothing and no one anywhere. For all she knew they could have been left behind by Natural Order by mistake. That would have been the best case scenario which she knew wasn't going to happen.

"Who's John?" Crystal stood close behind.

"He's my," she paused for a moment, not having thought that much about their actual status. "He's a friend, Pyro. I know he's in here. I saw him running." It was probably better not to divulge too much information.

"Is he a mutant too?"

"He can manipulate fire," Mya kept an eye out the door, waiting and watching intensely.

"Fire and what, water was it? That's kind of funny, don't you think?" She laughed a bit. As Mya turned back to scowl, the smile dropped immediately.

"Are you coming or not?" Mya looked back out the doors to the hallway, getting ready to make her move.

"Yes! Don't leave me here, please." Crystal's face was pleading. She had no intention of leaving her behind but knew at the same time that it would make it all the more dangerous. At least one of them had a sort of power available to them.

"Okay, on the count of three, we go. Ready?" Mya held her hand out behind her. Crystal nodded and took it immediately.

"Ready? One, two, three!" She whispered and yanked her out of the room and down the hall, around a corner and into another dark and unlocked room.


	26. Cameron

**CAMERON**

**DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.**

Suddenly, John was in what looked like a warehouse or storage building of some sort. All the walls were cement and the one hallway he was in, split into three others. It was a virtual maze and he was alone in it. Thankfully he'd been able to grab his lighter before running into the forest, or building rather.

Where did this place even come from? One minute he was chasing after Mya into the forest and the next he was in this strange building. It was like it had somehow been cloaked by something, or someone...

"Damn it, Mya where are you?" He practically crawled down hallways, under windows and out of sight for almost 15 minutes before something stopped him. A noise, coming from the room he'd just passed behind him. All the doors looked the same on either side, grey, solid steel and with no markings or signage anywhere.

"Mmmm!" John heard the noise again from behind him and, against his better judgement, he turned around and slowly raised himself up to he height of the window to peek inside. There, in the small cell, was a guy about his age, tied and gaged in the corner, struggling against his restraints. As soon as he saw John, the struggle became more evident. Checking down both sides of the hall, he rose to his feet to pull on the handle. To his surprise it was open.

"Mmmmm!" The stranger kept nodding frantically behind him, making him turn just as a metal dart whizzed past his head. John dodged quickly to the right and back through the door as the dart hit the floor just beside the guy on the ground. As soon as it hit the ground beside him, he relaxed just slightly.

"You okay?" John made his way back over to him in the corner, trying to draw attention to the metal clasps on his wrists. As he undid one, he drew his hand up to remove the gag from his mouth.

"We have to get out of here, they're going to be coming to do the rounds soon!" As John removed the last restraint, he bolted to his feet. "Coming?" He checked both sides of the hallway before heading out.

"Wait!" John pulled him back into the room quickly. "I need to find someone in here."

"They're probably dead, now let's go!" He started again as John yanked him back in the room and threw him up against the wall. Head to head, they were about the same height and build, John being just that much more. Flicking his lighter, he created a small ball of fire in his hand and brought it up to his face.

"You don't get to say that about her," John threatened, waving the fire just inches from his face, "considering you'd still be chained up if I hadn't come around."

"If they're not testing her, she's dead I'm sorry. That's all they do here!" He tried to move his face away from the lapping flames which were near enough to his face to singe his eyebrows.

"She's not dead!" John growled as the ball of flames in his hand flickered, almost outing itself, then roared even brighter.

"Then I'll help you find her! Just get that fire out of my face!" John took a few deep breaths, trying to figure out why his powers were so inconsistent. Just then, his hand with the fireball felt a sharp burning sensation before the flame totally went out. "Thank you," he rubbed his neck before relaxing any at all. "My little sister is in here too."

"You sure she's not dead?" John shot him a look, then shook the tingling sensation out of his hand. "What the hell?"

"Look," he peered out of the door and down the hall. "Our powers are limited here. They have some sort of cloak over the entire building which limits mutant powers unless we're zoned."

"Zoned?" John inched up behind him, peering out the window.

"Natural Order Mutants, once they get tested, are controlled and zoned. They put this insect looking thing on their necks and have them sent to a particular zone or city in the world to fight or recruit."

"They didn't test Mya," John couldn't make sense of it.

"Well that's probably what they're doing now. Come on!" All of a sudden he was following close behind down more hallways and ducking under more windows until they reached a large red and yellow metal door.

"What do we do now?" John looked back and forth between him and the door. The guy closed his eyes and put his hands on the door.

"Touch me."

"What?" John looked at him a little amiss.

"Put your hand on my shoulder, quick!" He started to breathe heavily, as if struggling against something. Just as John put a finger on him, they were on the other side of the door.

"Woah," John could barely comprehend what had just happened.

"Yeah, sorry about that, as I said, my powers are a little on the fritz."

"Teleporter..." John finally put two and two together.

"When it works..." He shook his head, clearing it as they took in their surroundings. They were in a large room lined with curtained off sections all the way down the long space, almost like a hospital. Nothing other than the sound of beeping and breathing filled the room, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on edge.

"What is this place?" John stepped forward into the room, making his way slowly down the middle isle. Carefully and quietly, he pulled back one of the curtains to see what was behind it. A middle aged man lay on a gurney, hooked up to even more machines than he'd seen in the labs at the school. "What are they doing to them?" John walked up to see the man's eyes darting back and forth behind his eyelids. He was alive, but unconscious.

"Like I said, the Natural Order is one big testing lab. All they care about is seeing how far they can push our powers and then using us to their advantage. 'Crush them or claim them.'"

"What are you talking about?" John made his way over to another bed where a small girl lay sleeping. Her arms were bound to the table with purple chains and there were so many needles and tubes in both her arms, he could barely count them all. It made him wonder how powerful this small girl could have been to have to be sedated like that.

"All these mutants were just brought in?" John continued to look, in hopes of finding Mya.

"No, these are one of two things, the mutants which were of no use to them, or the mutants they're having problems controlling."

"This is crazy..." John pulled back a curtain to reveal a woman who looked amazingly like Kaylin back at the school. It made him wonder. "I have to find Mya, where would they keep new mutants, do you know?"

"Probably the same place they have my sister, either holding or down in the labs."

"Let's go then!" John headed for the door on the opposite side of the room.

"It's not that easy!" He appeared before John just as he was about to reach for the handle. "You can't just go running around this place. They watch everything, they're everywhere."

"And they're humans and we're mutants! This is crazy us backing down to them! And yet they can round us up and put us in cages? No way!" John ripped his arm free of his grip. He wasn't going to let Mya suffer at the hands of people lesser than them.

"Listen, what's your name?"

"Huh?"

"What's your name?"

The question caught John off guard. He then realized that had no idea what this guy's name was in front I him that he'd just released from captivity. Who's to say he wasn't working for the Natural Order already. "What's yours?" John raised an eyebrow.

"My name is Cameron Jenkins, my sister, Crystal Jenkins is in here. She's a class four mutant and these guys want her bad."

"Class four mutant?" John shook his head.

"The stronger you are, the higher your class. You're I assume class two with the fire thing and I'm class three, teleportation and telekinesis. The only reason I'm class three is because I have two abilities. Someone with a stronger single power could also be a class three, four or five."

"Really?" John thought for a moment how to classify Mya.

"Yeah, these N.O. people really don't mess around, so you can't just go off on a rampage looking for your girlfriend or whoever. They have mutants working under them, for them and with them, some more powerful than you could imagine."

John felt a moment of panic as he realized he had no idea what to do. He had run in there chasing after his girlfriend who was in trouble. He had no plan, no list, no idea at all of what he was do once he was in there.

"But," Cameron started again seeing how heavily John's face had dropped. "I know she's in here and I'm going to find her." Somehow that made John feel even more helpless. "I'll help you look for Mya." John looked up again to see Cameron shrug, a tight smile in the corner of his mouth. John looked around him at all of the mutants they'd already captured. They sedated and confined them, but didn't kill them. It was torture.

"I have to find her," John looked back up at Cameron. "I've lost her too many times already." He nodded with a bit of new found confidence. "What do we do?"

"My sister's been in here a while, and I don't think they know that she has any siblings. They're not expecting me. Well, they're not expecting us to be looking for anyone anyway. We're just two mutants captured like all the rest."

"They might know about me, I was fighting them before I got here," John shook his head regretfully.

"We both have partial abilities so that works in out in our favor as well."

"So where to first? How well do you know this place?" John walked around the room, looking at each of the mutants as they lay motionless in the beds. He tried his hardest not to picture Mya in the same situation.

"If I remember the blueprints correctly, there's a holding cell just below where we are now."

"Blueprints? How big is this place anyway?" John came upon a child, and his heart sank. The boy couldn't have been more than 5 years old, needles and sensors covering his arms and head. These people didn't discriminate. 'Claim them or crush them...' I guess.

"Don't really know, really. I was here once before and all I can say is that, with the mutants they have control over, they can make it as big or small as they want," Cameron's brow furrowed as he tried to remember. "We just need to be careful and not get caught before, or after we find the girls."

"So let's go get them!" John shook his head, not understanding why he wasn't as anxious as he was.

"Like I said, we can't get caught, and running around here without a plan is going to do exactly that. There are guards that do a run through the halls and rooms every half hour. Right here is where we're waiting until they get to the next room."

John looked at him incredulously. "What are you psychic too?"

"No," Cameron shook his head at him, sighing as he made his way to the door. "We should be able to teleport to the hall as they make their way into here."

"Are you kidding? You want to get caught?"

"Listen to me! We'll hide until they get in the room. Once they're in the room, we'll trip to the next one. I'm telling you what we have to do and you're not listening!" He made his way to the very back of the room. "I've been studying his place for days now and I intend not to get caught. I'm getting my sister back regardless of whether or not you find your girlfriend. The only question is, are you willing to follow me?" He stopped at the end of the room and faced him. "Well?" Cameron asked just as there was a noise outside the door.

John bolted towards Cameron on the other end of the room and ducked down behind the last bed. The door opened and a man and a woman walked in. With controllers on their necks, he assumed they were mutants. They slowly made their way to opposite sides of the room, pausing in front of each bed to assess the person in it. A second later, he felt a hand on his shoulder and then, nothing.

"Cam? What's going on?" John couldn't take his eyes off of the two as they slowly made their way from bed to bed.

"My powers..." He tried again and felt a burning in behind his eyes, making his head ache. "Agh..." He put a hand to his head as the two mutants inched closer.

"Come on!" John closed his eyes just as the male guard turned towards them. He waited for them to yell or attack but there was nothing. Opening his eyes, he realized they were somewhere else completely different. Cameron lay unconscious on the floor beside him. "Cam!" He turned to shake him. "You okay?" He stopped as Cameron's eyes slowly opened, rolling around in his head. "You good?" John sat back as he came to, sitting up carefully with his hand on his forehead. "You okay? What happened?"

"I don't know," he continued to rub his head. "I think I just pushed myself too hard. My powers are really acting up now."

John pulled the lighter out of his picket and flicked it, carrying the flame into the opposite palm. "Mine seems to be okay for the most part..." Just as he said it, the flame flickered brightly and then snuffed itself out.


	27. Defeated

**DEFEATED**

**DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.**

"Stop! Please stop, I can't run anymore!" Crystal stopped, hunched over and panting in the middle of the hall.

"No! We can't stop here!" Mya grabbed her wrist and dragged her into the nearest open door. "What are you crazy?" She closed the door behind them, panting just the same. "Did you forget that we're being chased?"

"I... Just... Can't.." She continued to huff and puff.

"Well okay," Mya looked back at the door, checking to see if anyone else was following them. Thankfully, the halls were blessedly empty of anyone. And yet, somehow that made her more nervous. She hadn't seen a single other person other than the girl behind her. "We'll stop for a second, but if I know anything about these people, they'll do anything to get us, or get rid of us." Crystal raised an eyebrow at that.

"Where did they find you?"

"At Xavier's School. They followed me there from Canada," Mya shook her head as she paced around the room anxiously. "They actually found my friend first, then came after me."

"They must really want you then," Crystal looked up with a strange look on her face. Half way between interested and scared, as if that information made her somehow happy inside. "All the way from Canada."

"How did they get to you?" Mya couldn't help but ask.

"Michigan, my brother and I were from Michigan. They took me a while ago from the mall in Albion."

"They're everywhere..." Mya shook her head and sighed just as the door blasted open and a large man with green, mottled skin burst through the door.

"Crystal!" Mya screamed as he lunged for her, wrapping his arms around her petite frame as she yelled and struggled against him. Mya held out her hand and surprisingly enough, she was able to send a surge of water in their direction, knocking the assailant off balance long enough to loosen his grip on Crystal. She threw her elbow back into his chest and he fell to the floor. "Let's go!" Mya reached for her hand and dragged Crystal out the door behind her.

As the turned the corner down the hallway, there was another mutant waiting for them who Crystal, not paying attention, ran right into. "No!" Mya threw another surge of water in their direction but they moved out of he way so fast, she could barely comprehend.

"Mya! Help me!" Crystal reached out as the woman holding her basically reappeared a few feet down the hall.

"Crystal!" She chased after them until they disappeared into a room down the end of a very long hallway. Mya ran and ran, throwing jets of water in their direction until her chest burned and her arms grew tired, the controller on her neck sending low electric pulses through her liquid figure, and casing her brain to feel as if it were on fire every time. As she entered the room, it was pitch black, no light anywhere. Then, the door slammed shut behind her, echoing in the dark space around her.

"No! Crystal!" She turned around to bang on the door as hard as she could. Where was she and what had they done to Crystal? How was she going to get out? All the time she had Crystal, she had a shot with her powers. Now? "Help me!" Mya banged on the door again but it was useless, no one was coming for her at that moment, and if they were, they didn't have anything good waiting for her.

Moving around carefully, with both hands out, she felt around the space she was in. She made little, widening circles from the door out. For a few minutes, she walked around in circles feeling nothing until she hi the wall on the other side of the room. The wall was smooth and cold, and curved around as if the room was round instead of having corners. Mya banged on the wall again, shouting for someone to help her but there was nothing.

"John," She sobbed hopelessly, wishing more than anything he was there. What was going to happen to her now? Defeated, she fell to the floor, waiting for whatever happened to come next.


	28. Crystal

**CRYSTAL**

**DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.**

"Mya..." She could faintly hear her name being called in the distance.

"Mya..." The voice was young and female, she knew it from somewhere.

"Mya!"

Her eyes shot open and her body bolted up. Had she fallen asleep? How long had she been in there? Her heart pounded inside her chest as she looked around her, slowly getting up from her spot on the floor. "How are you feeling?" The voice giggled from somewhere above her head. Cautiously she walked over to the purple glass, able to see the entire room with the lights now on. She was being held in a glass tank inside a large lab, with more machines, computers and equipment than she's ever seen. "I'm surprised your up." Looking up at the observation deck, there was Crystal, in a white lab coat, signing something that someone else had handed her on a clipboard.

"Crystal! Crystal help me!" Mya banged against the glass desperately.

"I am helping you, just like you're helping us," she smirked her childish smirk as she made her way down the stairs and over to Mya at he glass.

"What?" Confused, she stepped back as Crystal made her way closer. "Crystal, what's going on? What are you doing?" Mya whispered a little closer, incase it was some kind of ruse she wasn't in on.

"What?" she looked at Mya incredulously. "Oh!" She giggled again. "I can see how you'd be confused." Crystal came right up to the glass and checked the seals between the glass and the metal. "Let me make it simple for you. This," she pointed behind her at the many controlled mutants and humans, "is my operation. I'm head of Recruit Testing."

"What?" Mya backed herself up as far away from Crystal as the tank would allow. "You're... With them?" Mya couldn't understand. This small girl, how was it that she could be part of all of this. Suddenly everything went spinning in her head. All this time, all the running, all the information she'd given up about the School. "Why?"

Crystal laughed that same childish laugh she'd heard from her when she'd first rescued Her from her constraints, or so she'd thought. "Why? For real?" She giggled again. "Because here, I'm a God Mya. If you work with them, they treat you like gold. They treat you like they know where they stand and that we're lengths beyond them. And so long as they know you're with them, you have the world at your feet." Crystal leaned in again and smirked. "It's really kind of awesome."

"All these mutants! You're hurting your own kind!" Mya couldn't believe what she was hearing. "God Crystal, think! What do you think they're going to do with you once they're done? They didn't put that controller on you as a fashion statement!" She raised her hand to the controller on her own neck, realizing that it hadn't gone off or made any noises that she could remember since she's first found Crystal.

"No! Those Mutants are nothing like us, class 3 and class 4, with stronger powers than most of those little brats you claimed to go to school with." Suddenly she stopped. "Mike! Have a team to back to that school." Michael nodded quickly and turned back to his computer screen. She turned back to Mya. "Maybe they do have more like this one. You never know."

"No!" Mya banged on the glass. If they found some of the mutants there... "What do you want from me, huh? Why are you doing this? Why did you kill my family? Why haven't you killed me yet..." Mya was all fury and anger as Crystal simply laughed again causing her skin to crawl and the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. Mya couldn't have hated anyone more at that moment. She had actually felt bad for the small girl she thought had been in trouble.

Crystal laughed all the way back up the stairs to the observation deck, holding her stomach as she huffed. "Wow!" She continued to laugh. "You haven't even done this before and you already know the outcome!" Her laugh turned into a snicker and then a lingering giggle. "I've never had a volunteer for this before, this is going to be the easiest day ever!"

"Bitch!" Mya banged bathe glass again, looking for some sort of opening or way out. "You won't get away with this!"

Crystal suddenly stopped laughing, her face turning dead serious. "I think I already have Mya. I wasn't given the title of Head of Recruit Testing just like that, I earned every second of it. I had to give them my own brother in order to prove I was able to do this so don't you dare question my abilities. Got it?"

Mya stood back against the far wall as the sound of an engine or pump starting up, filled the room gradually. "Mike! It's ready! Deactivate the controller and fill it up!" Crystal turned back to Mya with a look of evil amusement splashed across her face. "Let's see what the water woman can do."


	29. Game

**Game **

**DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.**

"Maybe not," Cam shook his head.

"Damn," John tried to grow another flame but only ended up burning his hand with the lighter. "Ow!" He shook it surprised. He'd never been burned by fire before. This was probably a very bad sign. "Our powers are fading, completely."

"Or, they know we're here."

"What do you mean?"

"I heard that they have a mutant in here that can take away any other mutant's powers," Cameron finally got up off the floor and to his feet with a hand from John.

"I know someone like that, she takes people's life force and can basically borrow powers from anyone. You might die, but she can do it just by touching you." John got up to watch as Cameron searched the room. It was almost exactly like the room he had first found him in, a small, concrete holding cell of some sort.

"That's not like these guys. These guys will literally take your powers. If you're even in the same vicinity as them, they don't even have to touch you and you'll be powerless. They can then take it and use it against you if they want."

"Damn," he looked down at his hand again, shaking his head and wondering if someone else was using it right now. It was so strange to think about. "I wonder if the Professor knows about this?" He thought out loud.

"Who?"

John looked up to see that Cam was staring at him intently. He rubbed his forehead trying to snuff out some pain behind his eyes. "Professor Xavier. He runs a school for mutants south of here."

"A school?"

"Yeah, it's where they followed her to, where they found all of us." As he said it, he wondered what the rest of the team was doing right at that moment to try to find them. Would the Professor be able to locate a place which was always moving and in the same place at the same time? As far as he knew, it was just the two of them. He was going to have to make it work.

"A school for mutants huh? What do you do there, take classes on how to use your powers?" Cam huffed sarcastically.

"Along with regular classes, yeah. It's a place where mutants can be safe from people like these humans who want to claim or crush us." He snarled as he looked around the room at the dank, dark walls and almost kicked himself for having such an attitude while he was there. Now, he may never see that place again, and the thought actually made him nervous.

"You were lucky then, our entire campsite was attacked because of my sister and I, and two other mutants there. The N.O. just came in and burned everything. They killed one other and took my sister and our site neighbour. Humans and mutants alike died, and they had no remorse or mercy for anyone who was a mutant or who harboured a mutant." Cameron looked around the room with pure hatred and disdain. "They stole my family from me, she's all I have left."

John thought just then, about what Mya had said had happened to her because of him. Her best friend betraying her location to them for money, them burning her house down and her having to watch her own family burn inside while she could do nothing. It was almost more than he could comprehend. Especially if it had happened to her, and he had to watch... The thought sent chills down his spine.

"We have to find them," John shook his head of the defeatist thoughts and looked back at Cam.

"Well then, you ready?" Cam turned to John, holding out his hand. John shook his head and shrugged.

"As I'm gonna be," he slapped his hand against Cam's and they were in a long hallway, which looked like every one before it except, this one was especially long. John shook his head clear as Cam started running in the opposite direction, down the hall which looked almost as if it had been flooded once. Taking a good look, it hit him.

"Mya! Mya was here look!" He pointed to the small puddles on the ground.

"What?" Cam finally stopped running and turned, "What are you talking about? We have to keep moving!"

"No! Look around, look at the ground, it's soaked. Mya's power is water, she can shift and shoot water, she was here!" He looked up and down the hallway for any other sign. There was nothing where he stood, so he made his way back to where they'd come from. Nothing. "Anything there?" He called back down to Cameron who was about a third of the way down.

"There are some footprints, two sets together, and then another further back."

John ran down to take a look for himself. "It looks like someone grabbed her and then someone else followed. But the set of two prints appear and disappear down this way. Let's go!" He grabbed Cam's arm but stopped when he didn't follow.

"Nah man, you're going to get yourself killed. You just don't get it about this place. Everything is a game, everything is planned before we know it. You can't just take the most direct route! You have to..." Cam was cut off by John banging on the door at the end of the hallway

"Mya! Mya, are you in there?" He banged loudly as Cam ran towards him at full speed. "Mya!" He shouted just before he felt Cam's hand and they were in complete darkness.


	30. Weakness

**Weakness**

**DO NOT OWN****any of the ****X-MEN****or ****MARVEL****characters.**

"Cam?" John stood up in place, in the middle of what seemed like a large empty space. "Cameron?"

"Here!" John heard a muffled call from across the room. Quietly he flicked his lighter to allow for a little light. The room was huge from what he could see, as far as the light would reach. With effort, he was able to grow the flame in his hand, holding it up to see if he could see where Cam was calling from. It was almost like a warehouse, with machines and computers and monitors all along the walls behind him, and a level above. It reminded him of the lab back at the school, where they ran tests and monitored Mya to find out what was wrong with her. "Oh no."

"John!" He turned completely around to see Cam banging against the wall in some sort of cylindrical room, lined with purple glass from floor to ceiling. "I can't get out! I can't get through it!" John made his way over to the glass to look around inside the cell. "There's water everywhere..." Cam looked down as his feet splashed in the inch or two of water on the ground.

"She must have been in there," John shook his head as Cam splashed in the only evidence of the fact that she may have been there. He was beginning to think, the longer it took, that he may never find her again.

"Or she's still here..." Cam turned around and made his way to the back of the room which was attached to a purple wall, and kneeled down.

"Mya? Is it Mya?!" John banged against the wall, looking for some weak point or opening in the glass. How did they get in there? How was he going to get in?

"Hey..." Cam picked up her head out of the water and rubbed her chest vigorously. "Hey, you okay?" He all but whispered. Looking her over, her hands and feet are swollen and bloody as if she'd been banging or fighting as hard as she could and then was left in the water. Her hair was matted and her lip bleeding, but other than that, nothing major he could see.

"Is she okay? Is it her?" John ran around trying to find some way in. He felt as if he were going crazy, he'd found her and now he couldn't find his way in, walking circles and more circles around the purple room.

"Yeah, she's coming to!" Cam turned back to the girl in his arms who's breathing had changed, and whose eyes now rolled around behind her eyelids. "Mya?"

Her head flopped from side to side as she came back to consciousness. "John," she croaked as she began to spit up water. He helped her sit up as she continued to choke and expel whatever was left in her lungs.

"Okay, it's okay, he's here. He's trying to find a way to get us out of here," Cam brushed her cheek. As soon as she looked up at him and realized it wasn't John, she jumped backwards, shooting a bolt of water at his chest and sending him flying into the wall.

"Get away from me!" She screamed and backed herself up against the wall on the other side. She continued to blast him as he put up a small force field in front of him to block the powerful jet.

"John!" Cam yelled as he shielded himself, "A little help!" John ran over as the force of the water pressed Cameron up against the wall, the cell quickly filling up inch by inch from the floor.

"Mya! Mya stop!" He ran over and banged on the glass trying to get her attention. Her arms were water and her eyes focused and afraid. "Mya!" With more effort than he'd ever had to use, he lit a large flame and lapped it up against the glass, growing the flames in his hands to spread the fire around the cylinder. He just needed her to see him before she killed Cameron, but the bigger the flames grew, the more pain he felt at the force trying to stop him.

"John! I can't hold on!" Cam slowly was forced down to the ground by Mya, his shield growing smaller and smaller around him. How did she have so much power in here?

"Mya!" John continued to pound on the glass and until, suddenly, it cracked, stopping Mya in her tracks. She dropped to the floor and the steam around them slowly started to fade as her arms returned to normal. Unfortunately they were now under about three feet of water, from everything she'd brought in to the room. After a few deep breaths and patting himself down to check for damage, Cam raced over to her side and picked her head up out from under the water again.

Just then, an alarm sounded, the same sound John had heard before he entered the building. It could only mean they were opening the ship or whatever this place was, up again for an attack on the outside. If they were going to escape, it would have to be right now.

"Is she okay, is she awake?" John diminished the fire to a small flame in his left hand and ran around to the back of the cell to watch as Cameron tried to wake Mya up again.

"Mya, you gotta wake up okay? This guy John, he needs you like you wouldn't believe. He fought his way in here, now we have to get you out of here along with my sister, okay? Please wake up!"

Mya groaned, weak and drained from the testing and having to defend herself for hours. She barely had the strength to keep herself upright. "John?" She gripped Cam's arms and peered over his shoulder.

"I'm here! I'm right here!" He knocked against the glass. "I'm here!"

"Are you okay to stand?" Cam helped her to straighten up in the water. She wobbled once but was able to keep her balance.

"We have to get out of here!" John banged again.

"Any suggestions?!" Cam yelled back at him.

"John," she staggered over to the glass in front of him, falling against the wall for support.

"How did you get in there?" John looked around at the solid glass, with no openings or windows.

"I don't know." She shook her head confused. "We were running away. I followed, I followed a girl.. Crys..."

"Crystal?!" Cameron stopped tapping the glass for hidden weaknesses and whipped around. "Was her name Crystal?"

"Crystal, yeah, Crystal. They grabbed her and I chased after them. Then, suddenly, I was in here and she was gone.." Mya's knees buckled but not before Cameron was able to teleport and save her from falling back down into the water.

"That's my sister!" Cam looked at John with new light in his eyes as he helped her up. "She's alive!" His smile only grew as he held Mya up. "Do you know where they took her?"

"No, I..." The expression of confusion turned to disdain as she remembered. "I thought they would be here but..." Mya shook her head angrily. "She's one of them."

"What? What do you mean she's one of them?" Cam immediately took offense.

"Yeah!" Mya turned resentfully to Cameron. "I found her locked up in a room and I helped her break out. I trusted her! I helped her! But she's the one behind all this, she's one of them. She's the one that told them to try and drown me over and over. To electrocute me and test my limits in this thing. I thought she was different."

"That's not possible! They took her from us! The N.O. did this!" Cameron shook his head, letting go of Mya to stand for herself.

"She gave the order to drown me in here! Crystal! I trusted her!" Mya turned to yell.

"Mya, Mya, calm down." He could see her cheeks turning red again.

"It's not possible!" Cam paced around the cell.

"Do you think I did this to myself?" Mya showed him the bruising on her arms and feet.

"She wouldn't!" Cam snapped back

"Guys!" John banged on the glass. "Come on! More important things, like getting you out of here."

"She wouldn't," Cameron crossed his arms and turned away.

Just then, John's eyes lit up. "Mya, do your powers work? I mean, can you keep them going for a while?" John looked around the cell, his eyes stopping on the small crack he'd made in the glass.

She took a deep breath before steadying herself on her own two feet. "Maybe, but it just takes so much more in here. I can feel myself straining," she looked down at her hands still wondering what had been happening. "It hurts so much," her eyes squinted from some unknown pain behind her eyes.

"They have mutants working against us, messing with our powers," He put his palm up against the glass and Mya put hers over it. She could see in his eyes the anxiety over their situation. If he'd only known what they'd done before. "Mya I need you to fill up the tank with water, can you do that?"

"Hey, what?" Cam appeared beside Mya. "I can't breathe under water man, what are you talking about?"

"But you can create a force field around you for a while, right? If Mya can fill up the tank, and I heat it up, the pressure might be able to break the glass! We have to get out of here now!"

"But!"

"Mya?" John came right up close to the glass, so close, he should have been able to kiss her. It's all he'd wanted to do since he found her, but there would be time for that if he had anything to do with it. "Do you think you can do that?"

"I'm scared John," she admitted quietly.

"That's crazy! This glass is almost two inches thick! I can't even teleport through it! I've never come across anything like this!"

"And we don't have time to waste! We're about to have company!" He yelled back at him. "We need to do something," he looked back at Mya, "I need to get you out of there." His eyes were intense, taking in what seemed like every inch of her face.

Just then, Mya stepped back into the middle of the room with her hands spread out at her sides. As her arms turned to water, Cam backed himself up on the opposite side from John as he flicked his lighter, creating two large flames in his hands. Water started to stream out of Mya's arms, rising higher and higher from the bottom, hitting as high as Cam's chest.

"John!" He yelled as the water rose higher. Somehow, as the water level rose, so did Mya, more and more of her body turning transparent. Suddenly, the flames grew almost five feet, wrapping themselves around the glass as the water started to swirl in the tank. Just before it hit his chin, Cam threw out his force field, creating a bubble of air around him.

"Mya!" The sound of the swirling, rushing water inside the tank was almost deafening, barely being able to see Mya through the current. "Mya! You okay?" he couldn't make her figure out through the rushing water. "Mya!" The tank continued to swirl and fill, he could hear the cracks starting from the one he'd made earlier.

"John! It burns!" He could hear Cam yell from inside. Most of the water had evaporated and turned to stream, swirling and rushing around his diminishing shield.

"Mya!" He yelled again and the glass under his hand cracked loudly, releasing pressure. John looked up unsure of how much more the tank could take. The flames lapped up the wall from his hands, trying to get as much coverage as possible around the glass.

"John! I... Can't..." He could hear Cameron struggling.

"Mya!" he looked frantically for her inside, unable to make out anything at all. Suddenly, there was a deafening and immediate silence, the water still rushing inside made no sound whatsoever. The flames snuffed from his hands and all he could do was stop and stare. There she was, Mya, or her form rather. A shadow or her former self, she was completely changed to water and mist. Her body, held together by the sheer will of her powers, noting more than an outline in the mist. She floated down from the middle of the room to put her hand on the glass in front of him.

"Run." The sound of her airy voice chilled him, holding his feet in place. It was almost as if the sound were inside his head. He had come so far to find her, and now? He wasn't about to abandon her now.

"Mya, I can't. I have to get you out of there. I'm not leaving you now! After everything! I won't!" He tried to make out her face as it's edges kept floating away with the turning of the steam and water. She was water.


	31. Run

**Run**

**DO NOT OWN****any of the ****X-MEN****or ****MARVEL****characters.**

"Run!" This time her voice brought back the rushing of the water and the sound of Cameron screaming from inside. Flames out, John turned and bolted in the opposite direction as the walls above his head began to crack sharply and shift, just as they'd planned. Another place cracked, allowing steam to escape and whistle through the opening. John ran and ran, it was all he could hear over and over in his head. He ran and kept running until he found a group fighting at the exit.

"John!" He heard his name being called, but from where? There was so much going on he could barely make out the individual bodies. He took one step towards the door and before he knew it, there was a man behind him. He tried to turn around to face him, but his arms were already around him, crushing his frame.

"Aaaaaggghhhh!" He cried out as he heard his own bones crack. As he thought he might pass out from it, his attacker was blasted back by a red energy beam. John got up from the ground, clutching his arm. Looking up, there was Cyclops, with an extended hand.

"We've been looking for you!" He shouted as another girl launched herself at his back. John flicked his lighter and threw a bolt of fire over his shoulder, blasting her out of the air. He hissed as he brought his broken arm back down to his side. "Let's get you out of here!"

"No, Mya! She's here! She's..." As he looked back behind him, the room exploded down the hall, water, steam and glass shooting everywhere out the door and in every direction. "Mya!" He took off back down the hall towards the lab.

"John! Don't!" Cyclops chased after him but it was no use, he was already gone. He couldn't even see the walls rushing by as he ran, blending in the tears beginning to form, focused on the only thing he'd come there for. As he reached the room, he stopped at the hole in the wall, water and purple glass covered the ground. Lights flashed and sirens blared as he made his way closer to what used to be the tank.

"Mya?!" He yelled looking around. "Mya, Cam! Where are you?!"

"John! We can't hold them off much longer, we need to get out of here!" Scott rushed up beside him. "Are you sure they're in here?"

"Ugh," they heard from across the room, on the upper platform. It wasn't two seconds before they were both up there. As he came around the corner, John stopped.

"Cameron," John knelt down to look him over, his face cut up and his hands and face swollen and red from the heat. "Are you okay? Where's Mya?" John and Scott helped him to his feet and down from the observation deck.

"I don't know." Cam hobbled along as fast as he could towards the exit. "I thought I heard her say something," he shook his head, "like she was in my head," he hissed as he put weight on to his right foot. John looked around frantically as he helped Scott lead Cameron out.

"What?" John stopped in his tracks. "What was it? What did she say?"

"Is she here now?" Scott began to look as well.

"I..." Cameron looked over at John's anxious face.

"Is she here?" John's head whipped around to see the worry and sadness on his face. "Is she?" John stepped closer to him.

"No," his head dropped. "I don't think so." He couldn't face the desperation in his eyes. John's chest heaved as he looked at Cameron. He could feel the hot, fiery tears pricking behind his eyes.

"What do you mean, no?" John looked around desperately. "Mya!"

"Come on!" Scott shook his head regretfully and pulled them both towards the hole in the wall and back out to the fight. "If she's here, we'll come back! We have to get you two out of here, now!"

He helped Scott take Cameron all the way out to the exit, fighting off any attackers that tried to get at them with Scott on the other side. His arm throbbed at this side as they limped out past Wolverine and Jean keeping the waves at bay, and hobbled towards the jet.

As soon as they reached it, John apologized and turned back.

"John! Don't!" Scott called after him, but he wasn't about to turn around and be stopped. He wasn't going to stop until something grabbed his collar from behind and slammed him to the ground. A girl stood over him with a steel pole about to strike.

"It's you..." She sneered. He slammed his eyes shut and threw his hands up to protect himself just as the metal should have pierced his chest, but there was nothing but a faint grunt. He opened his eyes to see her stare down at him with shock in her eyes, Cameron now behind her with the same pole in his hands and through her stomach. As she turned to face her attacked, both faces dropped.

"No," Cameron shook his head, with a look of pure regret splashed on his face. "No!" The girl's eyes brightened and a small smile appeared just in the corner of her mouth.

"Cameron," she reached out to touch his face before gripping the pole through her middle and falling to the ground.

"Crystal?" He caught her as she fell, lowering her down to the ground.

"I'm sorry..." John slid away and got up while Cameron, shocked by regret, said goodbye to his sister. Cam's sad eyes looked up at him, empty and unsure of what to do. His whole life for the past week had been to find her. "I'm sorry, I..." John shook his head before turning in the opposite direction and making his way back to the building.

Just as he did, there was another explosion that shot out from the exit, blasting humans and mutants alike out of the building, the entire side of it engulfed in flames. "No!" He stopped short watching as more and more of the building exploded and caught fire. "No!" John continued towards the fiery blaze with the only thought that he had to find her somehow. Despite the blaze and pieces of the building behind them flying in every direction, the controlled mutants and humans kept fighting as if they'd had no idea of what was going on around them.

"John!" He stopped short as Cameron appeared in front of him.

"I have to go in, I have to get her!" John's body wouldn't allow him to stop moving for more than a second, Cameron holding him back from the flames.

"She's not in there John, she's gone," Cam held him as he struggled against him.

"No!" He shoved Cameron back. "Don't! Don't you dare." He looked as if he was ready to fight Cameron right there.

"John! She's gone! She did it for you!" Cameron shoved him right back, trying to get him to hear what he was trying to say. "She did it for you!"

"Mya!" John's struggle became more and more pathetic, as the truth sank in. "No!" He lunged forward again against Cameron, launching a fire ball over his shoulder at a controlled mutant heading in their direction. "Aaaggghhh!" He drew his broken arm back in, having forgotten everything else but the her misty figure in the tank.

"We have to leave! Now!" Logan called from the jet.

"No!" John reached out towards the building, still struggling against Cameron, holding him back.

"I know man, I know," Cameron looked back at his sister dead on the ground, almost unable to believe the truth of it all himself.

"Mya..." Just as John's body went limp, something huge erupted in the building and they were suddenly inside the jet about to take off. Cameron dropped him in a seat as he just stared blankly out the window.

"John, are you okay?" Storm came over to check on his condition. Kneeling down in front of him, she placed a hand on his knee. "I'm sorry John," she nodded sympathetically. "I know you cared about her very much."

He couldn't help but stare at the spot on the floor in front of him. What had really just happened? The Natural Order got to her and he couldn't stop it. He was the one that had left her back in Canada so long ago and they found her. They killed her family, and left her for dead. They followed her to the school, put that controller on her and turned her against the very people that cared about her. That loved her.

And it was all his fault.


	32. Coward

Coward

I DO NOT OWN any of the X-MEN™ or MARVEL™ characters.

John sat alone in one of the rec rooms of the school, scribbling absently on a piece of paper; his mind lay dormant as it had for the past two weeks, his arm finally out of the cast and free to move. He had't been able to concentrate or focus on anything since they'd left the N.O. What was the point? Every time he tried to focus on something, she'd creep back into his thoughts. The what ifs, why nots and how comes, riddled every single waking moment. Was she really gone? How? Where? What could he have done differently? How could he have saved her?

Those thoughts only lead to anger, regret and eventually tears. There was only one answer his heart would let him believe, she was gone and he was alone. The only person that had cared about him was gone, and it was his fault. The tears, he promised he would never let anyone else see from now on. Tears that would be quelled one day, once he took his revenge on those mutants and humans alike who took her away from him.

"John?" Rogue walked up to the table beside him and sat down. "How are you doing?" She cocked her head waiting for an answer which he didn't give. He just shook his head in his hands. "I'm sorry John," she put a hand on his shoulder just as Bobby walked in, putting his hand on hers. The sight of the two of them made him even more angry.

"So am I!" He swiped her hand away and stormed out of the room, unable to be around any reminder of how badly he let her down again. It was what he was good at, losing and failing. He walked down the hallway and past her old room, the room she'd only had for less than a week before she was gone again. He couldn't help but see her face again in Canada, hurt and betrayed that he'd left her in the middle of everything.

His chest clinched as the tears pricked the back of his eyes, his hatred for humans growing more and more. Suddenly there was a crash just outside that made everybody turn.

"No! Come back!" Someone screamed and without another thought, his feet took off from underneath him. "John!" He heard his name being called and he was somehow able to run faster with nothing but hope fueling him. As he made it out to the back courtyard, there was Cameron, Faith and Pitor all standing at the end of the pond.

"Where did she go?" Pitor splashed in the water.

"Was it even her?" Faith shook her head.

"John!" Cam turned around again just as he came running up.

"What? What is it?" He stopped short of the pond, nearly falling in over the edge. His mind a blur.

"Mya, I swear I saw her John, she was here, in the water," he pointed to the rippling surface more excited than he'd ever seen. "She was here."

"You were the only one that saw it Cameron, don't be mean." Faith crossed her arms over her chest.

"What?! No! That's not it at all! I saw her, here, she practically fell from the sky like a raindrop and splashed away in the pond. I swear it!" John stared at the stretch of water, watching as the ripples on it's surface subsided. She wasn't coming back and Cam was just trying to get his hopes up.

"Aaaagh!" John yelled exasperated."Don't say her name again, you got that?" John pointed at Cam, warning and anger in his eyes. "Ever." John shook his head as he walked away, upset that he'd allowed himself to get his hopes up again, and for nothing. Stranger things had happened, but to the people who deserved it. For letting Mya down, all he deserved was to miss her.

"What? Don't you want to find her?" Cam stopped short, completely confused.

"She's not coming back again! Not this time, not a third time. Don't you get that? I failed, I let her down and she's gone. There's no point in getting hopes up, just so I can lose her again," John threw his hands up.

"But what it she's still out there? What if she's alive? You're just going to..." Cam tried to understand.

"Stop trying to punish me, I get it already!" he turned to leave again.

"It's not always about you John, have you ever thought of that?" John stopped again in mid step, not turning around. "If it wasn't for Mya, I wouldn't be here right now, I owe her to at least look for her."

"What are you trying to say?" John rushed back, looking like he was about to square off with Cameron in the middle of the yard. "You think I didn't care about her, that I didn't love her?"

"I'm trying to say that I'm going to find her." Cam put his foot down. "Mya's here," he looked around the campus, "she's here somewhere, and I'm going to get her back."

"Mya was my girlfriend," he stressed the words, trying to get that point across. More and more Cameron was starting to sound like he'd felt, wanting nothing more than to have her back in his arms. "Let me deal with this how I want, okay?"

"She saved my life!"

"John, Cameron," Pitor separated the two of them, not sure of where the conversation was about to go.

"John, we all miss her," Faith shrugged her shoulders empathetically.

"Shut it Faith, you helped try to kill her," John turned to walk away. He wasn't going to let anyone get under his skin like that again. It was supposed to have stopped with Mya back in Canada, but she'd found him and crept back into his heart. It only meant one thing, that now, finally, he could close it off forever.

Just as he thought it, another crash came from inside this time, Pitor, Faith, and Cam all taking off towards it. "John, come on!" Cam yelled back as he went through the doors. He wasn't going to let himself hope again. The way his chest hurt at that moment of disappointment was almost unbearable.

"Oh my God!" Someone yelled as he entered the school behind everyone else. "What is it?" Someone else gasped.

"Is it alive?"

"It's moving!"

He tried his hardest to tune everyone out, nothing and no one was going to mess with his emotions again. They were shut off, and this time for good.

"Scott?" He heard Jean call Scott over from behind him as he walked in the opposite direction, away from the crowd. "John?" He didn't stop but kept walking.

"Okay everyone! Back up! Back up!" Scott tried to do crowd control as more and more people appeared in the hall.

"John!" Jean called again and he stopped short. "John, I think you should see this." His mind screamed at him not to turn but his body won out and he spun around slowly to face them, all crowded around something on the floor.

"What?" As he came closer, everyone moved out of the way, clearing a path for him to go through. Then, he saw it, what could only be described as a watery, transparent blob, pooled on the floor.

"It's a trick right?" They're messing with us? With me?" John shrugged, trying his hardest not to be affected.

"It's her! John, she landed outside as well, at least part of her anyway..." Cam tried to convince him, just as the blob started to disappear. "She's evaporating!" He pointed to the mist hanging over the puddle in front of Jean.

"Whatever," John shook his head and turned to leave, flicking his lighter. He wasn't going to be fooled again. The last time he saw her, that misty figure in the tank, was how he wanted to remember her, her soft features wisping away with the current. If he just kept telling himself, one day he might actually believe that he'd done the right thing.

"John!" Cam called one last time as he turned the corner, heading towards his room. "She's gone..." was the last thing he heard before entering his room.

"Never again," he shook his head again before flopping down on his bed. Just as he did, there was another crash from inside the closet, taking him by surprise and nearly stopping his heart. Instinctively, he flicked his lighter and got up off the bed, rolling a small ball to fire in hands. "Hello?" he called out quietly as he made his way over to the double doors. Slamming them open, there was nothing but pools of water on the floor and on his clothes. Someone was playing a cruel trick on him and he wasn't having any of it.

Slamming the door shut again, he left the room to go walk the campus. He found that being alone, and outside helped him to cope. Somehow he felt closer to her being outside, especially near the water's edge. It was all he could do no to think of ways of getting back at them all. The humans that wanted to control or crush them, needed to be taught a lesson. But he wasn't going to be the one to do it, not just yet anyway. It wouldn't be what she would have wanted.

A wisp of cold air chilled him to the bone as he walked around the side of the school, closest to the forest. There was something strange in the air, it was true, but he wasn't about to get whatever hopes he had left any higher than the ground. Why set himself up just to have his heart broken again? Whatever little bit of his heart that was still functioning.

"John!" He could hear Faith call his name again, and then Cameron convincing her to leave him alone.

"But he..." Faith started again.

"If he wants to give up, let him," Cam said just loud enough for him to hear before heading back to the school with her.

"I'm sorry," he shook his head again, unable to get her misty figure out of his head. It tore him apart. But he wash going to open up his heart to the idea that she might still be out there without valid proof. The water puddles just weren't enough for him. To be honest, Kitty Pride could have done something like that easily enough in his room. It wouldn't be hard for her to sneak in and out of his room. Then again, why would she want to do that? Why did anyone do anything these days?

And then there was Cameron. Not that he regretted meeting him, or even saving him for that matter, but these days, all he could do was talk about how he couldn't believe what his sister had done and how he was going to do everything he could to find the watery girl that had saved him. If it wasn't for Cameron, Mya would still be alive today, she would still be there and they'd be together. She was trying to save Cameron who's powers wouldn't work in the tank. She told him to run.

And like a coward, he had.


	33. Confusion

**Confusion**

**I ****DO NOT OWN**** any of the ****X-MEN****™ or ****MARVEL****™ characters.**

"It's amazing really, her body is becoming used to being in a gaseous state. Technically, she shouldn't have been able to find the other parts of herself when she was trapped in the explosion," the Professor stroked his chin.

"What do you think did it exactly?" Jean stood next to the Professor in his chair in front of a glass cell in the lower level lab, where the mist and water that made up Mya moved erratically inside. "How did she come back together, much less find this place again with no memory of it?"

"I don't know," he shook his head perplexed. In all his years, he'd never come across a situation like this. "I can feel her reaching out, whispers of her voice, just sounds so far, a word or two here or there," he cocked his head with his hand at his temple, trying to focus on them harder.

"At the very least, she still has consciousness, she's aware." It was Jean's turn to shake her head and shrug. It was a mystery for both of them.

"For now. But if she can't find her solid form again, she could eventually be lost to this forever."

"All we can do is keep trying," she shrugged again.

"Increase voltage by 10%," the Professor sat in his chair in front of the glass cell, trying his best to hold Mya's misty figure all in one place while Jean controlled the electricity and other stimulants from the panel behind him. As she did, the mist gathered together, trying to create a human figure. "Steady Mya, you can do it." He nodded, saying it out loud but sending the message telepathically as well. They both watched as the mist dissipated and then tried again to come together.

For only a split second, she came together, her watery form present and floating in the middle of the cell. Just as fast as she came together, the water dropped to the ground into a blob and began to evaporate into nothing again. "Come on Mya." the Professor slapped the arm of his chair, frustrated again at being so close. "There's so much power there," he shook his head, turning around to Jean behind him.

"Class 3 you think?" She scratched her chin curiously. "She has the ability not only to change physical states, but to control the element in whatever form it's in around her as well."

"Maybe higher than that Jean, I think there's even more here than we can see." As he said it, the mist swirled around the cell, faster and faster, blurring everything inside. It gathered as it swirled, pulling more and more and more water into the cell as it spun around and around.

"What do you mean?" Jean came out from behind the panel to stand beside him at the glass watching as the water at the bottom of the tank began to rise. This was no shock to them. She had been doing the same thing ever since they put her in there.

"Professor?" Cameron walked in finally allowed, looking for a status update. As soon as he saw the rushing water in the cell, he knew. "Mya!" He pressed himself up against the glass as the water continued to spin. "Stop this," he shook his head at her before turning around to the Professor and Jean. "Stop! What are you doing to her?"

"Nothing Cameron, we promise, this," Jean pointed to the cell, "is all her."

"She's scared! She wants out!"

"Cameron," the Professor put a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down, "how do you know this?"

"This is the same thing they did to her at the N.O. before she got to this! This is what made her lose herself, what killed her!" He banged on the glass again, memories flooding back like waking nightmares.

"Jean..." she was already moving back to the panel before the Professor could finish his sentence.

"Mya!" Cam yelled again before disappearing.

"Cameron?!" The Professor called out, using his mind to find him. He cocked his head, having some difficulty.

"Professor..." Jean looked up from the panel pointing to the cell. Cameron had teleported himself inside, creating a force field around him in order to protect himself from the rising, rushing water swirling around him. The bigger he tried to make his shield, the faster the water moved and the louder it got.

"Mya!" He yelled from inside, over and over, trying to get her attention until finally, the force field dropped and he was engulfed only for a second before the water seemed to freeze in place before falling straight to the ground revealing a naked and trembling girl holding an unconscious Cameron across her lap in just under a foot of water.

"Jean," the Professor moved as fast as he could to get to the door of the cell, Jean meeting him there. Pressing the release button, the water drained from the vent in the center and the doors opened. She raced over to Mya, who simply looked up at her with what could have once been tears in her reddened, human eyes.

"Sorry," Mya reached out to her with her mind, more with regret and sadness than actual words. She allowed Jean to lift Cameron's limp body up from off of her with her abilities, transporting him out the door and onto the gurney to the right of the control panels.

The Professor turned to her, feeling her immense regret and confusion before her own eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out herself.


End file.
